The Graduate Program in Sociology Presents

Monday, January 25, 12:00 - 2:00 PM

Sociology Common Room, 2101 Vari Hall

De-Grading

Sociological and Pedagogical Critiques of Grading and

Alternative Teaching Practices at York University

Presenters:

Tasia Alexopoulos, York University

David Noble, York University

L. Anders Sandberg, York University

This workshop presents an opportunity for university educators to reflect on their grading practice. It seeks to address an uneasiness that many experience in relation to the task of grading. Perceiving grades as reinforcements of social distinctions and as measurements in the service of the labor market, several teachers believe that grades impede a "genuine education". Rather than fostering the students' critical engagement with the world, grades discipline students to "learn" in an instrumental fashion. The attempt to read the teacher's mind substitutes for the students' development of their own. In this line of reasoning, the grade has become the objective and the message of the educational pursuit.

Such concerns, however, are regularly countered by arguments that students themselves expect to be graded in a way that reflects their relative competence and effort. Apparently, most students begin university careers in view of "real life money". In a competitive labor market, good grades - rather than no grades - arguably enhance one's prospects. Furthermore, from a teaching perspective, several experiences have led some educators to conclude that there is no better way to motivate and discipline a classroom than by resorting to grades as incentives. Last but not least: since academic life is so profoundly regulated by standardized measuring, it seems inevitable that those practicing alternative models without grades will be punished - including the possibility of being fired. Under such conditions, how can or - should we even envision alternatives?

The workshop panel showcases how sociological and pedagogical critiques of the grading regime have led educators to practice and institute alternative models at York University. Three speakers will share accounts of their experiences and discuss the institutional challenges and prospects that these alternatives entail.

Tasia Alexopoulos is a PhD student in the School of Women's Studies and was a Teaching Assistant at the Division of Social Science at York University. She was dismissed from her position as a Teaching Assistant because of her grading practice. She currently fights her removal in a union grievance.

David Noble is a Historian and a Professor in the Division of Social Science and in the graduate program in Social and Political Thought at York University. His refusal to grade his classes has led him to teach officially authorized “ungraded” courses at York University.

L. Anders Sandberg is Associate Dean and Professor in the Faculty of Environmental Studies (FES) at York University. He will speak on the pass/unsatisfactory policy in the graduate program at FES.

Organized by Markus Kip, Teaching Development Graduate Assistant in the Department of Sociology. For inquiries: kip@yorku.ca

All Interested Faculty and Graduate Students Are Welcome!