Using that Sociological Imagination in assessin’ and feedin’ back
A prevalent feature in our programme is the ‘Sociological Imagination’ – a term coined by C. Wright Mills (1959:6) emphasising ‘the vivid awareness of the relationship between experience and the wider society’. This is reflected in our research and teaching, as our focus is on ‘real life’ issues, including migration and citizenship, experiences of marginalised groups including Black and minority ethnic (BAME) students in Education, homelessness, migrant mothers, gender and migration and substance misuse. Though our research feeds directly into our teaching, and in so doing generates our students interests in these areas, we are also keen to ensure that they develop their own ‘Sociological imaginations’ by encouraging them to draw on their own social experiences in the context of wider society, and apply them via a range of innovative assessments given at every stage of their degree. At level 4, in their core module, Self in Society, for instance, students use Sociological autobiography to reflect upon an aspect of their lives or particular experiences, in the context of broader society. Students have produced some excellent accounts in a range of areas including religion, sexuality, body image etc. We also encourage them to present at our annual student Applied Sociology conference, and this year, three have been invited to national conferences at York and Leeds Universities. Furthermore, their stories have been included in our new publication entitled Living your Best Lives’ autobiographical reflections of life in current times’ which was based on the conference. Taken together, students have developed a broad range of transferable skills necessary for employability, including critical reflection and the ability to present to a diverse audience which extends beyond their peers etc.
At level 5, in their Researching Society and Culture module, students undertake a visual ethnography, which entails gaining insights into ‘perceptions and social realities of people’ (Givens 2012:1). Since the ethnographies are based in their local areas, again they can reflect on personal experiences and observations of life there, and ways in which they link to other communities and broader society. At Level 6, interviews undertaken with migrants as part of their Migration and Citizenship module, means that students develop first-hand understanding of their experiences, and to critically reflect upon them in light of broader debates concerning immigration. In so doing, this offers alternative insights to the dominant (often negative) narratives pertaining to these groups. These, together with other assessments such as policy reports, essays, research projects and critical maps, demonstrate the variety across the programme, which allow students to explore ideas and concepts in diverse ways. They also facilitate interactive learning, and the development of additional, and equally important transferable skills, including critical analysis, report writing and presenting information in alternative ways besides essays. Our approaches also resonate with Paulo Friere’s (1968) belief in the importance of active, rather than passive learning.
With regards to feedback, this is given at every possible stage when the students undertake their assessments. Our students are offered initial individualised consultations with us, whereby they are able to show us drafts and plans, or to simply talk through ideas. In conjunction with this, we are closely engaging with the Assessment and Feedback policy, thus they are given formative assessments which correspond directly to the summative pieces. Through these, we offer additional guidance and feedback on how to ‘tweak’ their work.
At the end of the academic year, students are also given time slots to see the programme leader and/or personal tutors to review their progress. This entails bringing work from each of their modules to the meeting and both the tutor and student use this opportunity to discuss common trends identified in the feedback. The student and tutor agree a strategy for improvement for the next year. This is given in written and verbal form. Our programme has consistently exceeded the university benchmarks of 75% students obtaining a ‘good’ degree (2.1/1st). This is attributable to a combination of their hard work and engagement with their courses, and the academic support given to them.
Challengin’ the narrative: High attainment levels amongst Black and Minority Ethnic Students on the Sociology students
In our programme review, the latest of which took place in November 2019 the Sociology programme was recognised as a model of good practice in terms of BAME attainment, in light of the fact that the programme has bucked the University trends with over 70% obtaining a 2.1 or 1st. In 2018, for example, 83% of BAME students achieved a ‘good’ degree. Our success in this area is attributable to a number of factors, described below.
We are extremely conscious of concerns that students’ personal experiences have been downplayed in academic contexts. This applies especially to students from Black and Minority ethnic backgrounds, which has been highlighted in academic research around BAME student experiences in Higher Education (see for example Benton 2001, NUS 2011, Owusu-Kwarteng 2020 forthcoming). More specifically, BAME students report that in some instances, their views have been negated in class discussions, assessments, and particularly the curriculum. Taken together, these factors have a significant bearing upon BAME student experience, their engagement in their programmes and in some instances their academic outcomes. It is this which has led to nationwide campaigns such as ‘Why is my Curriculum White’. (2015). In contrast to this, we always endeavour to ensure that our teaching is as inclusive as possible. A key part of this is encouraging our students to share their experiences within lecture/class discussions, assessments, including seminar presentations, essays, and projects, but also beyond this in arenas such as in the aforementioned conferences, if they so wish to.
It is important to have content which reflects the cultural and social diversity of our programme. To that end, in each of our theory courses, there is a considerable representation of non-European thinkers so as to challenge dominant assumptions about who constitutes the key thinkers in our fields. Our degree also has an Applied sociological strand, which incorporates aspects of social policy. Again, wherever possible, real life case studies undertaken by academics from a diverse range of social backgrounds are incorporated. Further to this, much of the research we produce, and is a key facet of our teaching, falls within Applied Sociology and reflects the everyday lived experiences of marginalised groups. As shown above, this includes refugees, BAME single mothers, BAME students etc.
Anna Fazackerley in a Guardian newspaper article entitled ‘Look at How White the Academy is’ (12/9/19) highlighted concerns by BAME students about the lack of BAME representation in academia. Thus there are fewer academics that look ‘like’ them and may be able to relate to their experiences, which appears to be a factor preventing them from continuing onto doctoral level and beyond. The Sociology team, however, bucks the trend here slightly in that it has two BAME female academics, one of whom is amongst the 27 black British female professors, and the other is an associate professor. Both have been identified as role models, by students, but also within the broader context of the University. One example of this is that both were included in the Black Excellence Exhibition hosted by the University of Greenwich Students’ Union.
BAME students
and alumni are also highlighted as role models for current students to see.
This is evident in employability events where ex-students are asked to come
back and discuss their progress since graduating, and to share tips and
guidance for prospective graduates. Moreover, within our lectures, we highlight
real life examples/stories of current and ex-students of all backgrounds who
have achieved highly. This is particularly poignant if they have experienced
difficulties along the way.
Further to this, there is notable engagement
with wider university initiatives, for instance the attainment gap project, and
two staff members act as the school leads. Moreover, we have participated in
nationalised research undertaken by the Equality Challenge network, via analysis
of student experience to understand reasons behind different attainment.
‘We want them to raise their voices…’ Listening to the Student Voice in Sociology
Ensuring that the student voice is heard, happens on a range of different levels. For instance, in lectures and seminars, staff will ask the students informally about their wellbeing, and offer to see them individually if they are facing any particular issues. If these are academic problems, we seek to resolve them as soon as possible, using the appropriate channels. If there is guidance that we cannot provide, we work with them to identify where this can be obtained.
We work closely with our students to highlight areas for development in the curriculum and other facets of the programme. One such example is emphasis on the inclusive curriculum which reflects the experiences of our diverse body of students. As indicated above, this is evident in our modules, formative and summative assessments. This is also another method of reducing differential attainment.
We also regularly encourage our students to give us feedback on any concerns through personal tutorials, which occur on a regular basis. Moreover, as with most other programmes, we have student representatives, whom we meet with prior to programme committee meetings, and at other points during the year. Here the main focus of our consultation is teaching and module content. Further to this, within our programme, is the school lead for student experience, who hosted focus groups with our students, and others within the school of Humanities and Social Sciences. This feedback was included within our Faculty’s Student Experience forum, which in turn contributed to changes in broader university policy around student experience.
Dr Louise Owusu-Kwarteng
Associate Professor in Applied Sociology; Programme Leader, Sociology and Faculty Director of Undergraduate Research; School of Humanities and Social Sciences/Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences