Sociology Shortcuts Magazine No.3: The Intro Issue
Issue 3 of Sociology Shortcuts Magazine arrives just-in-time for the start of the new school year, which is just as well because the Intro Issue is aimed squarely at those new to Sociology as they take their first faltering steps in their new favourite subject taught by their new favourite teachers. In terms of content, […]
Five Functions of Identity
A great deal of discussion about identity in a-level Sociology can be fairly abstract and concerned with the mechanics of construction: how and why, for example, particular identities are created and assumed. In the midst of all this some relatively simple questions sometimes get obscured – an idea addressed by Adams and Marshall (1996) when […]
Countdown to Culture
It’s a strange-but-true factette that in the 8 years – and nearly 800 posts – this blog has been active one post has stood head-and-shoulders above all others. Quite why an innocuous little post outlining 7 Functions of Culture should have garnered 30,000-odd views in the 5 years since it was first posted is anyone’s […]
Foucault and Introducing Sociology?
I always found giving students an “Introduction to Sociology” – whether as part of a recruitment or induction process, first lesson or whatever – something of a chore because it was difficult to: a. Sum-up Sociology in a short, pithy-yet-evocative sentence or two. b. Build on the description I offered to get students to reflect […]
A Few More Sociology Knowledge Organisers
I think it’s probably fair to say that Knowledge Organisers / Learning Tables have become a well-established part of the A-level Sociology curriculum these past few years and while I’ve only posted one new set of examples over the past couple of years (the aptly-named New Selection) plus a rather-brilliant variation on the theme that […]
Doing Nothing as Deviance
“What are you doing?” “Nothing” “No, really. What are you doing?” “I’m. Doing. Nothing”. While breaking social norms is always a fun and interesting way to get students to think sociologically about the world in which they live and generally take-for-granted, it’s not always something that’s easy to do / demonstrate in a safe and […]
Sociology Transition Materials
If you’re unfamiliar with the idea, Sociology transition materials are resources designed to help students transition from either GCSE to A-level or from A1 to A2. In the normal course of events they consist of notes, readings, activities and exercises that students complete during the long months of their summer holidays when they would otherwise […]
Mapping Gender Identities
The classical sociological distinction between “biological sex” and “cultural gender” is based on the idea of a more-or-less fixed binary biological classification (“male” and “female”) and a more-or-less fluid set of cultural characteristics (“masculinities” and “femininities”) that are, to some extent, associated with, or expressive of, these biological categories. In other words, classical concepts of […]
Sociological Research Articles
I found this document lurking on a hard drive and while I’ve absolutely no idea from where it originally came, the metadata says “2008” and since it’s called “Sociological Research articles (since 2000)” it’s a fair bet it contains articles published between those two dates. As you can see, very little gets past me. Digging […]
Sociology Lesson Elements
This set of resources from the OCR Exam Board is, as you might expect, designed to support teaching and learning for their A-Level Specification. While some of the resources may fall outside the remit of other Sociology Specifications this isn’t to say that teachers of the latter won’t, with a little bit of judicious editing, […]