Sociology
Curriculum Intent
The Sociology department at Grace Academy Coventry seeks to teach knowledge that will allow learners to develop excellence in Sociology, higher education, their future careers and their life beyond school. The curriculum will enable pupils to participate in an ever-developing world with understanding and humanity, and it will give them the higher-level skills needed for a knowledge-based economy. Through the study of Sociology, pupils will examine social phenomena that affect people’s lives in profound ways. The course is designed and delivered to nurture thoughtful and motivated young people, who can act responsibly as active citizens, and who believe in their ability to change their community for the better. The Sociology curriculum challenges pupils to look beyond appearances and set aside their own personal beliefs to enable them to show mutual respect, integrity and compassion towards others. The curriculum will encourage limitless potential by inspiring pupils and challenging their ideas, concepts and essential skills of critical thinking.
Within A level Sociology pupils are challenged to debate the relative values of different theoretical perspectives and how sociology can be applied to enable social change. Each topic makes synoptic links to previous content, allowing pupils knowledge to grow sequentially. Pupils will gain a holistic and critical appreciation of Sociology through teacher delivery of key powerful knowledge alongside a range of teaching strategies that promote independent and active learning, such as well-structured debates and discussions to deepen pupils understanding and enjoyment, whilst building core skills. Learners will be given opportunities to explore future careers in Sociology and related areas inspiring them to have limitless potential to achieve. By the end of the two-year course students will have powerful knowledge that will enable them to understand the importance of critical thinking and the impact Sociology can have on the lives of people in society.
This year, we are studying:
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Year 12 |
Topic(s) |
Why this? Why now? |
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Term 1 & 2 |
Teacher 1 Education: Roles of education, how class, gender and ethnicity impact students and policies.
Teacher 2 Families and Households: meaning of childhood, “ideal” family types, gender roles and sociological perspectives of the family.
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It is suggested by AQA that this topic is taught first. This is appropriate because students have recently received GCSE results and have developed an understanding of competition between schools when choosing higher education. Most students will have completed five years of secondary education and seven years of primary education, therefore they are aware of the roles and rules within the education sector. This knowledge can then be used to understand studies within the UK education system. This is the second topic suggested by AQA and is part of the Paper 2 options for ‘Topics in Sociology’. This has been chosen as an option because students can apply their previous knowledge of their own family and families that are shown in various media domains, as well as from previous RE lessons and PSHE lessons which included the topics of Relationships and Family. |
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Teacher 1 & 2 Theory and Methods: What methods do sociologists use, evaluations of these methods and how this applies to education. |
This topic is suggested by AQA to be taught after students have a grasp of sociological studies. It requires students to think about and evaluate why certain methods are used in research. Paper 1 Education includes questions that then link to theory and methods and therefore, once education is completed, theory and methods can then be taught and applied. |
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Year 13 |
Topic(s) |
Why this? Why now? |
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Term 1 & 2 |
Teacher 1 Beliefs in Society: Ideology, Science and Religion, religious organisations, the relationship between different social groups and religious organisations and the significance of religion/religiosity in the contemporary world.
Teacher 2 Crime and Deviance: Crime, Deviance, Social Order, Social Control, Social Distribution of Crime, Globalisation and Crime in Contemporary Society.
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This is another option as part of Paper 2 - Topics in Sociology. This is the most common topic chosen for A-level students. This topic has been chosen for students due to students having an array of previous knowledge from their KS3 and KS4 PSHE and RE lessons, alongside our religious events and celebrations which are delivered as part of our personal development curriculum. The demographic of students in school will mean many will identify with the topic on a personal level, with a number of students being able to apply their knowledge from their own religions and beliefs.
This topic is a compulsory one set by AQA as part of Paper 3. This is a topic that affects everyone in society, whether it be directly, indirectly or even through different forms of media. There are also direct links to what some students may have studied in GCSE history and GCSE RE topics on Crime and Deviance. |
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Term 3 |
Teacher 1 & 2 Theory and Methods: What methods do sociologists use, evaluations of these methods, how this applies to crime and deviance. |
This topic is suggested by AQA to be taught after students have a grasp of sociological studies. It requires students to think about and evaluate why certain methods are used in research. Paper 3 Crime and Deviance includes questions that then link to theory and methods. Therefore, once Crime and Deviance is completed, theory and methods can then be taught and applied. |