We aim to foster in students an understanding and critical awareness of the social world around them by focussing on the importance of social structure in explaining social issues. Students will be encouraged to explore and debate contemporary social issues to enable them to challenge taken-for-granted assumptions and to question their everyday understanding of social phenomena. Students will develop their own sociological awareness through active engagement with the contemporary social world. Students develop the ability to think sociologically in relation to their experience of the social world around them so that they are able to play a positive, active and informed role in society.
As a department, our intent is to ensure that our curriculum provides students with the effective opportunities to:

• apply their sociological knowledge, understanding and skills to develop an understanding of relationships and tension between social structures and individual agency within a UK and global context
• critically analyse information and use evidence in order to make informed arguments, reach substantiated judgements and draw conclusions
• use and apply their knowledge and understanding of how social structures and processes influence social control, power and inequality
• use sociological theories to understand social issues, debates, social changes and continuities over time
• understand and evaluate sociological methodology and a range of research methods
• use sociological terminology appropriately and make connections between the key areas of subject content.

The Sociology curriculum is underpinned by the following key Sociological concepts and themes. These concepts/themes are revisited in each unit in order for students to connect prior learning with new:

• how human beings acquire their identity
• the process of passing on culture from generation to generation and in diverse settings
• a detailed study of two agents of socialisation: families and education
• a theoretical understanding of the social world and an awareness that the process of socialisation is contested
• an examination of social structures and their influence on human behaviour.
• an understanding of the nature and extent of inequality
• competing theories on the causes of inequality
• a study of the ideas of the classical sociologists
• the sociological research process

Specification and Exam Board - WJEC Eduqas Sociology GCSE

The aim of our curriculum is for students to develop essential skills developed through their study of sociology; that is, the ability to show their knowledge and understanding of key concepts and issues in the context of sociological theory and methodology.

Key Stage 4 Objectives

• to draw on information and evidence from different sources and demonstrate the ability to synthesise them
• to analyse and evaluate different research methods used in sociological investigations and assess, critically, the appropriateness of their use
• to analyse and evaluate information and evidence presented in different written, visual and numerical forms
• to apply their understanding to explore and debate the current sociological issues outlined in each of the topic areas
• to use sociological theories and evidence to compare and contrast social issues, construct reasoned arguments and debates, make substantiated judgement and to draw conclusions
• to draw connections between the different topic areas studied