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School and Society 1 – Session Eleven Today’s Agenda 1. Reflective Response 2. Conformity (Dead Poets’ Society) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SnAyr0kWRGE 3. Single Stories 4. Important Sociological Concepts to Understand 5. Body Break & Social Break Reflective Response • Share your Reflective Response to the readings with each other. • Use one or more of your discussion questions to deepen your thinking. Single Stories Chimamanda Adichie passionately and clearly teaches us the “danger of a single story” in her 2009 TED Talk. http://www.ted.com/talks/chimamanda_adichie_the_danger_of_a_single_story?language=en Single stories can include stereotypes, ideologies and, what sociologists call, cultural hegemony. Stereotypes are overly simplistic generalizations about a subgroup of peoples. Those that “stick” often are constructed by people with power and used to limit opportunities for the stereotypes’ subjects. Ideologies are sets of ideas that shape how people make sense of the world around them. Depending on the social power of those holding and employing these ideologies, they can have significant impact on social structures and the life chances of others. Cultural hegemony is a system beliefs, norms, and values, shaped by the ruling-class, that justifies the status-quo as natural or normal, and thus makes it invisible. These discourses shape what is knowable and sayable in any given context. In your small groups decide upon a single story specific to perceptions in Manitoba. Jot down your exploration of the selected single story. Create a poster to represent your ideas, with the chart paper provided, for an informal poster presentation towards the end of today’s session. Use the following steps as a guide: The Story: Explain the single story you chose. To do this, outline its narrative and logic. What is the story? What social inequality or issue does it attempt to explain? Start the Story Earlier: Analyze where the story originated. Who created the story? What is the function/dysfunction of the story? What happens if you start the story here/earlier? How does the narrative shift? Explore its Impact on Identity, Perceptions of Others, Social Relations, and Social Institutions: How does the story affect people’s sense of self? How does it affect the way people understand each other? How does the story affect contemporary social relations? How does it contribute to the perpetuation of inequality in society? How has it become institutionalized? Listen to Alternative Stories: What is the story told by the subjects of the story? How does the story shift if you listen to these testimonies? What happens to the story if you follow the perspective of those most oppressed by it/and or those able to see through the narrative? Change the Story: How can the story be changed? What can you do in your daily life to contribute to shifting the narrative? What can be done on a broader scale? Adapted from: http://www.thesociologicalcinema.com/blog/category/class%20activities#.VNgLPSn1Ii4 Important Sociological Concepts to Understand Study the following concepts carefully in preparation for our next activity: Alienation (Seeman, 1972; 1983) Powerlessness (sense of a lack of control over events) Meaninglessness (the incomprehensibility of social affairs) Normlessness (social norms that regulate conduct have broken down) Self-isolation (withdrawal from social affairs) Self-estrangement (self-alienation; a loss of intrinsic motivation/sense of pride) Note: Discuss relationship between these types of alienation and the goals of professionalization. Sociological ambivalence (Merton & Barber, 1969) Competing demands for time, energy and interest Incompatible attitudes, beliefs, and activities Originates within the social structures to which we belong Authority (Spady, 1977; Clifton & Roberts, 1993) Three mechanisms of control: - Power; Persuasion; Authority With authority, people comply with demands voluntarily and they at least initially withhold judgment regarding the legitimacy of these demands. Types of authority Institutional authority can be either traditional (bound in the traditions of schools) or legal (rights and obligations of those who teach) Individual authority can be either expert (knowledge of content/pedagogy) or charismatic (ability to make social-emotional connections with students) Activity: Dramatic Concepts - In groups of four or five, theatrically represent as many of the above concepts in bold as you can within five minutes. We will try to name them, by calling out, as you perform. Conformity at School - the Survival Answer - 1950's https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N2S3BlEBlg4 2