Remote Teaching and Sociological Reflexivity

A few Insights from Brazil

Abstract

The Coronavirus pandemic deeply affected institutions of higher learning worldwide. As most universities’ campus closed, faculty were urged to engage with emergence remote teaching. This paper discusses how an individual experience with remote teaching in Brazil triggered a sociological reflexivity about the classroom. It draws on the concept of “sociology as pedagogy” by Halasz and Kaufman (2008) to explore how insights from theorists discussed in class helped to improve knowledge about teaching sociology. The paper makes the case that in a context shaped by deep inequalities, such as the higher education system in Brazil, it is important to search for practices of “sociology as pedagogy” that build from alternative forms of knowledge production.