SynopticallyThinking

On the back of the news that our current year 13s on average out performed all other AQA centres in the country in their AS Sociology exams, it is very important that they maintain their high levels of performance this year.

In order to out perform everyone again year 13, you must get your heads around these synoptic links for unit 3 and 4. To do so you must always think in the following way about sociological issues (not necessarily in this order):
1. Theory
2. Themes (inequality, culture, etc)
3. Methods
4. Substantive topics (family, education etc).


Check out this online document for more guidance.

http://www.estovercollege.plymouth.sch.uk/curriculum/Sociology/Sociology/Factsheets/06.%20synopticity.pdf

How To Write a GCSE essay.

Discuss how far would sociologists agree that the government alone controls
the behaviour of people in society                                                   (12 marks)

Remember - opening paragraph, tells reader what you are going to write about.
Sociologists would not necessarily agree with the above statement...
So we need to consider different sociological ideas and explanations such as...

Main body - This includes the main arguments of your essay.
On the one hand, some sociologists would argue...
whereas...
Other sociologists might argue that...
Furthermore some sociologists might say...
However...
In addition...

Conclusion - answers the question and comments on how far there is or isn't agreement.
Overall the essay has included a number of reasons/sociological explanations as to why...
It can be argued that sociologists do / do not agree because...
but...

Agree or Disagree

Why do we have order in society? Is it because we are told what to do or is it because we all want to work together to create harmony?

There are two sociological theories that have views on this.
Firstly we have the CONSENSUS aproach that states that social order is created through everyone in society agreeing on a set of shared norms and values. Also people work together to achieve common interests and goals.  FUNCTIONALISTS believe social order is maintained through socialisation and support society's rules.

Secondly we have the CONFLICT approach. This is based on the idea that we have 2 conflicting groups in society the rich, powerful bourgeoisie and the proletariat who are poorer and have less power. In order to protect themselves and their wealth the bourgeoisie can influence laws and threaten people with things like being fired from their jobs or going to prison for theft or damage to property. This view is also known as Marxism.

Exam Success at GCSE!

Well done to last year's 11! They achieved 54% A* to C. With lots of students attaining B grades it means that this year's year 11 classes should really be aiming to out perform them. The challenge has been set, have you got what it takes?

The current year 11 last year also achieved 54% A* to C in their unit one exams. This means you are well on the way to beating their performance. However, if there is one criticism of last year's year 11 their exam performance was worse in year 11 than in year 10. It seemed they slacked off and this lowered their overall grade.

So don't be like them aim to improve your overall grade by working even better this year and don't take your eyes off the prize! 

Ms Smith says...

I would like to celebrate the successes of the year 13 sociology students who achieved fantastic results in their AS exams this summer.
Well done all and I hope that this is an inspiration to the new year 12 sociology class.
See you all in your lessons next week.

Hello new Sociology students!

Students who have just started their journeys into the world of Sociology on GCSE and AS courses have a lot of new experiences ahead. At first it may seem daunting, with a load of new words to learn and a challange in changing the way you think about the world.

GCSE  and AS level students can look forward to studying the following subjects this year:

• The Family
• Education
• Sociological Research

Please make sure you use the links and reading lists especially the links to the AQA exam board pages to familarise yourself with how you will be assessed.

Also for some light relief check out Tupac's voice from beyond the grave (or not if you believe he is still alive) on the sociological issue of inequality in society.

Keep it real.