Sociology
subject overview
Sociology enables students to gain knowledge and understanding of key social structures, processes and issues through the study of families, education, crime and deviance, social stratification, religion and beliefs. Students will develop their analytical and communication skills by comparing and contrasting perspectives on a variety of social issues, and by studying sociology they will gain skills towards how to: investigate facts and make deduction, develop opinions and new ideas on social issues, analyse and better understand the social world.
unit overview - autumn term
Subject: Sociology GCSE |
|
Skills |
|
Knowledge |
|
Rationale |
Students will familiarise themselves with the main methodology of sociology as it relates to a topic (families) that is most immediate to their everyday experience of the world. Throughout this topic an emphasis is placed on defining the key concepts of sociology as they relate to a social experience that is immediate (family life) Students are expected to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of key sociological theories by reading and responding to extracts (summaries of sociological studies) which illustrate the different views of sociologists. They should be able to critically analyse and evaluate how these sociologists have interpreted the issues. For each topic area students are expected to demonstrate an understanding of relevant methods and methodological issues and critically evaluate issues with presented studies (AO3 Written and oral debates will be used foster an understanding of sociology as a discipline predicated on perspectives |
unit overview - spring term
Subject: Sociology GCSE |
|
Skills |
|
Knowledge |
|
Rationale |
Students will consolidate their knowledge the main methodology of sociology as it relates to a topic (education) that is immediate to their everyday experience of the world. Throughout this topic an emphasis is placed on defining the key concepts of sociology as they relate to a social experience that is immediate (the educational system) Students are expected to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of key sociological theories by reading and responding to extracts (summaries of sociological studies) which illustrate the different views of sociologists. They should be able to critically analyse and evaluate how these sociologists have interpreted the issues. For each knowledge area students are expected to demonstrate an understanding of relevant methods and methodological issues and critically evaluate issues with presented studies (Becker, Willis, Delphy and Leonard) (AO3) Written and oral debates will be used foster an understanding of sociology as a discipline predicated on perspectives An introduction of the link between sociology and everyday life through how sociology informs Government Policy |
unit overview - summer term
Subject: Sociology GCSE |
|
Skills |
|
Knowledge |
|
Rationale |
Students will familiarise themselves with the main methodology of sociology (this permeates all other topics) Students will evaluate the sociological methods and conceptualise why none of them are perfect This topic is part of all other elements of the course as it is part of AO2 and AO3 in all exam questions The Step by Step guide for conducting research is designed to foster an understanding of the decision process all sociologist make |
knowledge Organiser
A knowledge organiser is an important document that lists the important facts that learners should know by the end of a unit of work. It is important that learners can recall these facts easily, so that when they are answering challenging questions in their assessments and GCSE and A-Level exams, they are not wasting precious time in exams focusing on remembering simple facts, but making complex arguments, and calculations.
We encourage all pupils to use them by doing the following:
- Quiz themselves at home, using the read, write, cover, check method.
- Practise spelling key vocabulary
- Further researching people, events and processes most relevant to the unit.