Sociology (Post 16)

Students will explore topics that are relevant and, at times, controversial. This inspires students to critically engage with issues in society and develop their knowledge on key social debates, such as gender inequality, poverty and crime. The curriculum challenges our students through a rigorous course of study. We take into consideration the experiences of our students and barriers they may face and engage them with opportunities to apply their knowledge and aim to develop an understanding of complex issues.

Students will work towards becoming independent, critical thinkers who learn to question what is presented as ‘normal’ in society. Students become aware of the role of agents of change in society and take a more active approach to their everyday interactions. We expect our students to develop enhanced verbal and written communication skills, and to develop their ability to analyse and debate. Overall, we hope that studying Sociology will lead students to become critical thinkers and all-rounded, active members of society.

Curriculum Structure (Overview)

GCSE

Sociology can be taken at GCSE level, A level or both at the Victory Academy.

Both courses offering the opportunity to develop critical thinking skills and an understanding of society.

The course structure allows students to apply different theoretical perspectives, such as Marxism and Feminism, and to appreciate the different perspectives from which an issue can be approached. Importantly, students will acquire the skills to evaluate key ideas and to challenge differing views on social issues. We aim for students to develop into thoughtful and reflective individuals who are able to take an analytical approach to what is presented to them. 

Introduction to Sociology

• Sociological approaches
• Debates within sociology
• How sociology informs our understanding of the world including social structures and processes
• Key classical sociologists and perspectives

Research methods:

• Research design
• Methods of research
• Types of data
• Primary and secondary resources
• Interpretation of data
• Practical and ethical issues

Paper 1

Families:

• Differing views of the functions of families
• Family diversity - how family differs in the UK and a globally
• Domestic division of labour including feminist criticisms
• Changing relationships of families
• Criticisms of families including the Marxist perspective
• Divorce- the trends, reasons and impact

Education:

• Views and perspectives on the functions of education
• Education and its relationship to capitalism
• Educational achievement linked to concepts such as gender, social class and ethnicity
• Educational processes within schools including labelling

Paper 2

Social Stratification:

• Different views of the functionalist, Marxist and Feminist theory of social stratification
• Different views of socio-economic class
• Different views on factors affecting life chances
• Sociological views on poverty and power relationships in society

Crime and Deviance:

• The social construction of crime and deviance
• View and perspectives on crime and deviance
• Social order and social control including feminist views of women and crime
• Criminal and deviance behaviour – causes and impact
• Analysis of data on crime

A Level

Paper 1

Education:

• The role and functions of the education system and its relationship to the economy and to class structure
• Educational achievement of social groups by social class, gender and ethnicity
• Relationships and processes within schools - teacher/pupil relationships, pupil identities and subcultures, the hidden curriculum
• The significance of educational policies, including marketisation and privatisation, and greater equality of opportunity or outcome
• The impact of globalisation on educational policy

Methods in Context:

• Applying sociological research methods to the study of education

Theory and Methods:

• Quantitative and qualitative methods of research
• Research design
• Sources of data
• The relationship between positivism, interpretivism and sociological methods; the nature of ‘social facts’
• Theoretical, practical and ethical considerations
• Consensus, conflict, structural and social action theories
• Concepts of modernity and post-modernity in relation to sociological theory
• The extent to which Sociology can be regarded as scientific
• Debates about subjectivity, objectivity and value freedom
• The relationship between Sociology and social policy

Paper 2

Culture and Identity:

• Different concepts of culture, including subculture, mass culture and global culture
• The socialisation process and the role of the agencies of socialisation
• The self and identity as both socially caused and socially constructed
• The relationship of identity to age, disability, ethnicity, gender, nationality, sexuality and social class
• The relationship of identity to production, consumption and globalisation

Beliefs in Society:

• Ideology, science and religion, including both Christian and non-Christian religious traditions
• The relationship between social change and social stability, and religious beliefs, practices and organisations
• Religious organisations, including cults, sects, denominations, churches and New Age movements
• The relationship between different social groups and religious/spiritual organisations and movements, beliefs and practices
• The significance of religion, including the nature and extent of secularisation in a global context, and globalisation and the spread of religions

Paper 3

Crime and Deviance:

• Crime, deviance, social order and social control
• The social distribution of crime and deviance by ethnicity, gender and social class, including recent patterns and trends in crime
• Globalisation and crime in contemporary society
• The media and crime
• Green crime
• Human rights and state crimes
• Crime control, surveillance, prevention and punishment
• Victims, and the role of the criminal justice system and other agencies

Assessment

The curriculum is designed to help the students to acquire a large body of knowledge over a two-year period. All students will need to successfully comprehend a wide range of key concepts, and to be able to use these to analyse social issues. Students will also need to be able to construct well-argued, analytical and evaluative essays.

Students are regularly formatively assessed via short answer knowledge recall questions, and through extended writing tasks. Additionally, there is regular interleaving of knowledge from across the course content to ensure students are confident. Termly assessment data is used to judge the success of the curriculum and progress towards mastery, with teaching time allocated to the re-teaching of specific knowledge. Particularly in Year 13, a proportion of curriculum time is given to interleaved revision of the broad curriculum content. Twice-yearly mock examinations afford students the opportunity to hone their examination skills and embed improvements.

Students are encouraged to deepen their critical faculties and move from knowledge recall to application and evaluation.  Peer and self-assessment are used to support students to develop into independently capable learners.

Examinations

The exams will measure how students have achieved the following assessment objectives.

• AO1: Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of: sociological theories, concepts and evidence, sociological research methods
• AO2: Apply sociological theories, concepts, evidence and research methods to a range of issues
• AO3: Analyse and evaluate sociological theories, concepts, evidence and research methods in order to: present arguments. make judgements, draw conclusions.

Useful Study Resources

• https://www.thesociologicalreview.com/
• https://www.thesociologyteacher.com/
• https://revisesociology.com/