Walking Sociologically, Teaching on the Move: Thinking with London’s Streets

There has been recent recognition of the potentials of walking as a social research method but less has been written about its pedagogical uses in sociology. This article sets out an approach for using walking in teaching as a collective practice that has the potential to shake up the traditional dynamics of the classroom. It argues that moving through the streets together and in dialogue makes a feminist intervention through challenging the figure of the lone male walker who still looms large in walking literature. The article sets out how walking can be used as an engaged and live teaching method to bring sociological concepts to life, generating and developing the sociological imagination of students. Using an example of a walk in Westminster, the article gives a practical outline for how these ideas can be mobilised.