Sociology

Year 9

Intent:

In year 9 we teach Sociology twice a week as part of the pre option. The Sociology department seeks to develop students understanding of social perspectives and theory. We dig a little deeper into the sociological issues that affect everyone, we use the process of debate to encourage views and develop ideas about key social areas.

Sociology covers social norms, values and cultures and looks at how different people interact with each other. It helps our students understand diversity, celebrate difference, and respect the cultures and opinions of others. Our expectations of students are high in all areas; we expect them to take pride in their written work and always strive to do their best. In return, we work hard to provide a range of stimulating lessons and offer all students, whatever their ability, the opportunity to maximise their potential.

The aims of the Sociology Department are –

• To provide enjoyment in understanding of cultures in a safe environment.
• To help ALL students gain confidence in their own ability and achieve success.
• To enable ALL students to learn the relevant skills in debating through the exploration of social theory and studies.
• To enable students to develop an appreciation and understanding of different people and different ways of thinking which will lead to more balanced and accepting citizens in society.

Implementation: In Sociology we have two lessons per week to deliver this pre option. We cover the foundations of sociology in the first term and aim to give students a taste of what the subject is like so that they can decide if they want to take it as a GCSE subject.  We cover the key sociological concepts in sociology such as norms, values consensus, culture, and division to name a few.  We will also cover the main social theories of sociology that many refer to as the foundations of the subject.  This will include ideas from key thinkers who identify as Functionalists (Parsons, Durkheim, Murdock), Marxists (Marx, Bowles and Gintis, Zaretsky) and Feminist sociologists (Oakley, Delphy and Leonard and Walby). 

topics are interconnected, as they are all part of the social process, so reference is continuously made to other areas. We will also relate the concepts learnt to the four main topics in sociology including families, education, crime and deviance and stratification. We can look at more case studies, research projects that have helped shape sociological thinking.

In year 9 we can go into greater detail around sociological research which is such a large topic.  Year 9 allows us the freedom to explore social theory and research which will give students a taste of what the subject is like at GCSE as well as broaden their understanding.   

Key Stage 4

Intent

At Brayton Academy we understand the importance of studying society and recognising the diverse nature of the world we live in. Sociology covers social norms, values and cultures and looks at how different people interact with each other. It helps our students understand diversity, celebrate difference, and respect the cultures and opinions of others. Our expectations of students are high in all areas; we expect them to take pride in their written work and always strive to do their best. In return, we work hard to provide a range of stimulating lessons and offer all students, whatever their ability, the opportunity to maximize their potential.

The aims of the Sociology Department are –

• To provide enjoyment in understanding of cultures in a safe environment.
• To help ALL students gain confidence in their own ability and achieve success.
• To enable ALL students to learn the relevant skills in debating through the exploration of social theory and studies.
• To enable students to develop an appreciation and understanding of different people and diverse ways of thinking which will lead to more balanced and accepting citizens in society.

Implementation

In Sociology we have six lessons per week and deliver this GCSE over one year. We cover the foundations in sociology in the first term and make sure the students are introduced to the main social theories. We also cover the key sociological concepts in sociology such as norms, values consensus, culture, and division to name a few.  Many of the topics are interconnected, as they are all part of the social process, so reference is continuously made to other areas. We cover families for our first topic from the first exam paper.  As families is such a core institution in society it makes sense to deliver this and build student’s understanding of social theory.  After this we move to crime which is from the second exam paper.  The reason this is done second is to ensure balance between the papers and make delivery equal.  Crime and families can be interlinked and many of the social studies used in families can be applied to crime namely Parsons and the functions of the family when explaining the causes of crime or bedroom culture with the reasons that women commit less crime. 

When crime is completed, we move to stratification which looks at poverty and division in society. Stratification covers several different areas such power and poverty but can also be linked to the family and crime for example, crimes may be committed due to material deprivation or the way that middle class crime is poorly reported by the media because of the imbalance in power. In the final part of the one-year GCSE we cover education.

Research skills and social theory are covered as discreet topics in every unit we cover. This is to ensure skills are continuously delivered.

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