A High School Course in Sociology

Because of the importance that geography plays in our understanding of economics, history, and politics, it has been argued that the subject should be taught to students beginning at the early elementary level, usually focusing on the family unit and local communities. However, when the proper technology tools and strategies are used, students at the kindergarten level can learn more complex concepts of geography and other social studies ideas and Common Core Standards. This article is a narrative about how a kindergarten teacher's discovery of “website widgets” brought the world to her classroom while helping her students learn important social studies knowledge and skills.     

Status of Sociology in High Schools

The role of literacy instruction—and more specifically the ability to read critically—in democratic and Social Studies education has not been fully or explicitly explored. This gap is also strikingly evident in the reluctance of many Social Studies teachers to incorporate reading instruction into their practice. In this paper we describe our efforts to engage preservice middle grades Social Studies teachers in critical literacy practices as a first step toward more effectively and meaningfully integrating reading instruction into Social Studies education.     

Social Theory Across Disciplinary Boundaries: Cultural Studies and Sociology

This essay proposes that sociology can learn from social theory developed in the humanities. In the face of recent challenges to sociological explanations of social outcomes (from rational choice and economic theory, cognitive psychological theories of intelligence, and communitarian social philosophy), social theory should specify the constitutive force of social signification. After identifying a key weakness in theoretical approaches currently available in sociology, the inadequacy of various conceptions of the social, I analyze three significant new works in cultural studies in order to sketch out alternative ways of defining and measuring the force of social signification. The essay concludes with an attempt to establish the basis of a dialogue between cultural studies and sociology.     

Teaching Wealth Distribution in High School

This article presents detailed instructional plans for a two-day, high school-level lesson on wealth distribution in society. The terms income and wealth are defined and compared, and the significance of studying wealth is discussed. Resources for the lesson are identified, and a pedagogical mode is outlined in relation to democratic citizenship education.     

Elementary ELA/Social Studies Integration: Challenges and Limitations

Adding instructional time and holding teachers accountable for teaching social studies are touted as practical, logical steps toward reforming the age-old tradition of marginalization. This qualitative case study of an urban elementary school, examines how nine teachers and one administrator enacted district reforms that added 45 minutes to the instructional day and implemented a series of formative and summative assessments. Each participant was treated as a particular case and a within-case analysis was used. Through classroom observations, interviews, time journals, and official school documents, I describe underlying perceptions and priorities that were barriers to any positive impact time or testing might have afforded social studies. Findings suggest that scheduled or mandated ELA/social studies integration does not always materialize and there are reasons for this gap.     

Mechanic Arts High School Seniors Evaluate Their Courses in Social Science

Abstract

The movement for vocational education conceals within itself two mighty and opposing forces, one which would utilize the public school primarily to turn out more efficient laborers in the present economic regime, with certain incidental advantages to themselves, the other which would utilize all the resources of public education to equip individuals to control their own future economic careers, and thus help on such a reorganization of industry as will change it from a feudalistic to a democratic order. (Dewey 1917, 334-35)     

The Relationship between High School Sector and Educational Success: Focusing on the Social Background of Private High School Students

This study investigates the influence of high school sector on educational success in Japan. A range of previous research on disparities among high schools has revealed that high school rank (based on the academic ability of pupils, etc.) originated from the democratization of high school. However, given that the democratization of high school is supported by private high schools, high school sector may become a factor for high school ranking. The data used for the analysis are the 2005 National Survey of Social Stratification and Social Mobility (SSM) in Japan. The results indicate that students who enter private high schools have lower academic ability than students who enter public high schools. By contrast, private high school students have greater educational success than public high school students. Moreover, this study reveals that private high school students are generally from a higher social class than public high school students. Given that the use of entrance examinations for private junior high schools has been increasing since the 1990s, in the future, the effect of private schools on educational success may become stronger in not only high schools but also junior high schools. This study thus emphasizes the importance of paying greater attention to the relationship between educational success and the private and public school sectors.     

The Development and Evaluation of Online Learning Modules to Deliver Lifespan Content in Human Behavior in Social Environment Courses

This article details the development and evaluation of a lifespan development computer modules that were used in human behavior in social environment courses. An anonymous, Web-based survey was developed to evaluate the modules. Supporting the first hypothesis, the majority of students (83.5%) found the modules to be a good learning alternative. The hypotheses that MSW students will experience more barriers to Web-based instruction and that students who previously mastered more content will spend less time on mobdules than students who previously mastered less content were not supported. Lessons learned provide implications for the use of computer-assisted instruction.     

Enhancing Critical Thinking and Professionalism Through Use of the Discussion Forum in Social Work Practice Courses

SUMMARY

Development of critical thinking skills, application of theory, ethical decision-making, and achieving a professional identity are among the goals of social work education. This paper describes a three-year experience integrating discussion forums into graduate and undergraduate practice courses. Forums were designed to promote students' ability to use theory, analyze controversial issues, analyze and address ethical issues, professionally critique the work of peers, and conceptualize practice problems and issues for discussion in the forum. Evaluations indicated that discussion forums enhanced the depth of thinking about practice and practice issues and increased the sense of collegiality among students.     

Social Networks and Sustained Activism in Local NIMBY Campaigns

This paper compares six NIMBY (not-in-my-backyard) movement organizations to explain why some of these social movement organizations expanded their goals while others did not. Analysis of interview and survey (N = 113) data reveals that friendship networks within the movement foster goal expansion (in part because people want to preserve the context for these friendships). External local political networks promoting their own rhetorical and resource agendas will inhibit goal expansion if they establish trusted links to the NIMBY organizations.     

The Impact of Personal Finance Education Delivered in High School and College Courses

This study investigates the impact of personal finance education delivered in high school and college. Outcomes of interest were investment knowledge and household savings rates measured years after the financial education was delivered. A web-based survey with questions about participation in financial education, financial experiences, income and inheritances, and demographic characteristics was administered to 1,039 alumni from a large midwestern university. Participation in a college level personal finance course was associated with higher levels of investment knowledge. Experience with financial instruments appeared to explain more of the variance in both investment knowledge and savings rates. No significant relationship between taking a high school course and investment knowledge was found. Financial experiences were found to be positively associated with savings rates.

The Politics of Drugs: an Inquiry in the Sociology of Social Problems*

While a great deal of sociological attention has been given to phenomena identified as social problems, a general theory of social problems has yet to be presented. The describing and categorizing of social problems has dominated such inquiry, with little attention given to the process of problem creation and maintenance within the context of power, interests, and politics. We must look to the arena of political, social, and economic power, and identify those varying interests vying to define certain phenomena as problematic and those attempting to counter such recognition. The emergence of the “drug problem” in the early twentieth century provides an excellent example of the political nature of problem identification and definition. Early entrepreneurs and their organizations brought about the institutionalization of the problem through the passage of drug laws. While medical interests were victorious in protecting their practice in the Harrison Act of 1914, subsequent efforts by enforcement agencies, among others, brought about the criminalization of the user. The criminalization of the “drug problem” was aided by a change in the image of the user.     

The Social Work Outreach Service Within a School of Social Work

ABSTRACT

This article describes a unique community outreach service that is designed specifically to meet the needs of the local community, provide training ground for social work students, and experiment with the development of new practice models. Located within a school of social work, the service was born in an atmosphere in which both the university and the school were being called upon to play a greater part in the community. Since its inception in 1992, it has successfully served the local community through direct service, community organization activities, and consultation. Despite these successes in outreach to the community, internal challenges continue to exist.