Budgets,Board Games,and Make Believe: The Challenge of Teaching Social Class Inequality with Non-Traditional Students |
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Authors: | Joshua L Carreiro Brian P Kapitulik |
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Institution: | (1) University of Massachusetts, Amherst, MA, USA;(2) Quinsigamond Community College, Worcester, MA, USA |
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Abstract: | According to a 2002 study by the U.S. Department of Education, the percentage of “traditional students” on college campuses
is declining. Students increasingly are delaying enrollment, attending college part time, working full time, financially independent,
and single parents. In this paper, we explore the extent to which sociologists are adapting their teaching to address these
shifting demographics. Based on a content analysis of articles published over a 20 year period in Teaching Sociology that suggest strategies for teaching social class inequality we find that most authors assume that their students are “traditional.”
Most often this means that students are assumed to come from a privileged, middle class background, lack direct and substantial
experience in the labor market, and enter college shortly after graduating high school. Accordingly, most articles advocate
classroom strategies of “looking down,” whereby students pretend to be in the shoes of those less fortunate. Examples include
creating household budgets based on poverty wages, playing board games, or assuming the role of the poor for a day. These
strategies run the risk of being ineffective, alienating, and potentially ethically suspect when used with non-traditional
students, whose real life experiences may resemble these simulations. We conclude with recommendations for pedagogical approaches
to teaching social class inequality that are more appropriate for, and inclusive of, students from diverse backgrounds. Our
goal in this paper is to start a discussion about pedagogy, social inequality, and the non-traditional student. |
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