Tags: education, inequality, knowledge, race/ethnicity, colorblind racism, pedagogy, 11 to 20 mins Year: 2010 Length: 12:20 Access: YouTube Summary: This clip from CNN's Anderson Cooper 360 features a debate between Tom Horne (Arizona superintendent of public instruction) and sociologist Michael Eric Dyson on the need for school curricula to incorporate alternative racial or ethnic histories of the United States. Amongst other things, Horne argues "we should be teaching our kids that this is the land of opportunity, and if they work hard, they can achieve their dreams, and not teach them they're oppressed"; noting that teaching oppression is a "downer" and that it teaches children a "race-obsessed philosophy." Dyson notes that much of American history is taught as finding relief from British oppression; he argues that the stories of Caesar Chavez, Dr Martin Luther King, and others must be told to understand American history and democracy, and that full knowledge of our past helps us find relief from oppression. The video may be used as a launching point for discussions on colorblind racism; racially influenced pedagogical practices in the United States (how is race taught in schools?); and the need for engaging with subaltern histories. Submitted By: Jillet Sarah Sam
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Tags: crime/law/deviance, demography/population, economic sociology, education, causality, correlation, incentives, preferences, rational choice theory, 61+ mins Year: 2010 Length: 93:00 Access: no online access, YouTube preview Summary: Freakonomics: The Movie is based on the 2004 best-selling book of the same name by journalist Stephen Dubner and economist Steven Levitt. The film is broken up into a number of short segments, all of which might be useful in a sociology course tackling rational choice theory or wrestling with the idea of causality. (1) "A Roshanda by Any Other Name" explores whether the name a child is given can be plausibly blamed for the child's successes or failures in life. (2) "Cheating" and (3) "Pure Corruption" examine how cheating in Chicago public schools and Japan's sumo wresting circuit can be explained by uncovering hidden incentives. (4) "Cause and Effect" succinctly and clearly illustrates the aphorism, "correlation is not causation." In (5) "It's Not Always a Wonderful Life," Steven Levitt offers a relatively detailed and multi-causal account of the drop in US crime rates beginning in the 1990s. According to Levitt, nearly half of the drop in crime can be explained by the unintended consequences of the Roe v. Wade decision by the United States Supreme Court. (6) "Incentives" explores how well intended incentives often lead people to act in unexpected ways, and finally, in (7) "Can a 9th Grader Be Bribed to Succeed?" we see Levitt and other researchers experiment with paying students cash incentives to improve their grades. Thanks to Jessie Daniels for suggesting this film. Submitted By: Lester Andrist Tags: children/youth, education, knowledge, medicalization, 11 to 20 mins Year: 2010 Length: 11:40 Access: YouTube Summary: Narrated by Sir Ken Robinson, this clip lays out Robinson's argument for the need to reform public education. Set against the backdrop of an illustrator drawing a visual representation of the argument, Robinson argues that the institution of public education is outdated, having emerged out of a fundamentally different social, intellectual and economic context: the Enlightenment and Industrial Revolution. Times have changed, argues Robinson, and the disconnect between an outdated education system and contemporary social realities causes chaos, privileging some but alienating the vast majority of the population. Today, kids are trying to learn in an intensely stimulated environment, and prescription drugs are used as a crutch to keep kids focused. Robinson draws a parallel between the rise in ADHD diagnoses and the rise in standardized testing, claiming that ADHD is largely a "fictitious epidemic" and the real problem is that kids are bored at school. Robinson stresses the importance of arts curriculum to help students' senses operate at their peak; instead, students are anesthetized by drugs that shut off their senses. Robinson says we need a paradigm shift. Rather than moving toward conformity and standardization, the institution of public education should be moving in the opposite direction, encouraging divergent thinking and fundamentally reconceptualizing human capacity. This engaging clip demonstrates for students the ways in which our institutions are products of particular social, economic and cultural contexts, and invites a discussion about institutional change--both the possibilities and challenges involved. Moreover, the clip might be particularly useful for a lesson on the sociology of education, and how our current education system alienates different groups of students. Finally, the clip is useful for illustrating how institutional trends operate in concert with one another, as the rising dominance of the prescription drug industry has had specific consequences on the institution of education. The clip is also available with Spanish subtitles. Submitted By: Valerie Chepp Tags: children/youth, consumption/consumerism, education, gender, inequality, knowledge, media, social construction, standpoint theory, 00 to 05 mins Year: 1998 Length: 1:31 Access: YouTube Summary: The YouTube caption for this clip reads, "By Phil Lord and Chris Miller - This was a fake commercial we made in 1998 for a series of educational shorts about action figures based on historical figures. Its educational value was somewhat suspect. It was never aired." While the clip may not offer quantitative data, it works well to broach the topic of gender inequality. The Bronte sisters action figures must fight evil publishers who discriminate against women authors. At a minute and a half, the clip is brief but incredibly useful for stimulating discussion about one way gender inequality works. For instance, students can be encouraged to contemplate that the standpoints of women are systematically suppressed through a publishing bias in favor of works written by men. A second point to take away from the clip is the positioning of women as action figures who fight evil. I would argue that even as toys women are rarely represented as such in the United States unless they are also sexually objectified. In this clip, the Bronte sisters are dressed rather modestly. I would like to thank Elisa Kreisinger for suggesting this clip. Submitted By: Lester Andrist Tags: children/youth, class, education, inequality, intersectionality, race/ethnicity, rural/urban, schools, suburban, 06 to 10 mins Year: 2007 Length: 6:47 Access: YouTube Summary: An eye-opening experiment highlighting the inequalities between city and suburban schools. Students from both schools switch places for the day. Segment from The Oprah Show. Submitted By: Valerie Chepp |
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