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Harry Potter , Benjamin Bloom, and the Sociological Imagination
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Short Description: This paper is an examination of utilizing the J.K. Rowling Harry Potter series as a ... Particular strengths of the Harry Potter series are illustrations of ...
Content Inside: International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education2007, Volume 19, Number 2, 167-177http://www.isetl.org/ijtlhe/ISSN 1812-9129Harry Potter, Benjamin Bloom, and the Sociological ImaginationJoyce W. FieldsColumbia CollegeThis paper is an examination of utilizing the J.K. Rowling Harry Potter series as a teaching tool for introductory sociology courses. Because of the ease in comparing the Wizard culture in which Harry lives with their own culture, students apply critical thinking skills and thus increase their ability to think beyond their own, immediate social systems carrying them to stages three and four, application and analysis, in Bloom's Taxonomy. Particular strengths of the Harry Potter series are illustrations of sociological theories and social processes; examples of social stratification; and explanations of basic sociological concepts such as norms, sanctions, and deviance For this class, students are required to read the first two books or watch the movies adapted from these books. In addition, they must read the third and fourth books in the series as the movie adaptations omit significant sociological parallels. These books and movies increase abstract understanding of sociological concepts as they apply to the fictional world of wizards. These abstractions become concrete as students apply this understanding to the analysis of their own place in their social environments.C. Wright Mills (1916-1962) wrote, "The us to comprehend the links between our immediate,sociological imagination enables us to grasp history andpersonal social settings and the remote, impersonalbiography and the relations between the two withinsocial world that surrounds us and helps to shape us"society. That is its task and its promise" (Mills, 1959,(p. 3). One key to using a sociological imagination isp. 6). He further described social scientists as thosethe ability of viewing our own society as an outsiderwho ask imaginative questions, seeking answers would. Divorcing self from the near (very well known beyond the obvious, searching for the obscure, and theand opinionated) environment is a difficult task forunexpected answer. In looking at the structure of anyentry level undergraduate students.society he recommends three questions specificallyIn 1956, Benjamin Bloom published his taxonomyaimed at jumpstarting this sociological imagination. of learning behaviors. He addressed the order in which These are:students attain, incorporate, and use knowledge. Bloomoutlines three domains in which education takes place.1. What is the structure of this particular societyThese are cognitive, affective, and psychomotor. Theas a whole? Its components and the first or cognitive domain involves the development of relationship between components? What is thethe intellect or the way in which we gain and integratemeaning of continuance or change?knowledge and therefore, provides educators with a2. Where does this society stand in human guide for educational planning and assessment. Thehistory? What does it contribute to the cognitive domain outlines six definitive stages or skill meaning of humanity? What are its essentialsets addressed in the educational process, each buildingfeature and how do they differ from those ofon the one preceding it. Thus a student must first gainits past?knowledge (be able to recall information) then3. What varieties of men and women now prevailprogresses to comprehension (be able to interpretin this society and in this period? (Mills, 1959,information). (S)he is then prepared for applicationp. 6-7).(being able to apply information in a different context)and then moves to analysis (being able to distinguishBeyond the scope of the classical definition of thebetween facts and inferences). The two mostsociological imagination, Mills "conveys a sense ofsophisticated cognitive skills are synthesis (being ablewhat it means to be an intellectual who concentrates onto create a new meaning for the information) andthe social nature of man and who seeks that which isevaluation (being able to make judgments aboutsignificant" (Elwell, 2002, slide 80).information and the way the information is used).It is this task, to "seek that which is significant" asTypically, introductory courses are offered to entryit defines man's relationships to others and sociallevel students, either those who are coming to collegestructures, that creates relevance in the classroom. directly from secondary schools (traditional students) or Schaefer (2002) introduces the sociological imaginationthose coming at a later point in life (nontraditionalas "an unusual type of creative thinking....that allowsstudents). Typically, these students are at the
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