Greater Protection for sub cultures in Manchester
Here's an interesting news story about how sub cultures are to receive greater protection from hate crime in the Manchester area. The change has been prompted by the dreadful murder of 'goth' Sophie Lancaster in 2007.
Follow this link for more information.
Useful tool
Try using this to ensure students understanding key, and often difficult concepts. It also will force you to consider your explanations carefully!
Streaming in schools
Streaming is no longer commonly used in schools, often viewed as divisive and unfair. However, some schools have adopted the approach and defend it as a means to stretch and challenge the top cohorts. Have a look at this video about how it works at Crown Woods, in Eltham, London.
Gender and the Media
In the wake of the Leveson report, surely required reading (at 2000 pages, you may prefer the key points), here is a great summary of some of the issues raised in relation to gender and the press.
Corporate crime
A great resource to discuss and debate the issue of corporate crime and responsibility in terms of tax etc. The comments are particularly wonderful.
http://starbucks.co.uk/blog/starbucks-commitment-to-the-uk/1240
Unit 4: Developing AO2 skills at A2
One of the weaker areas for many students lies in the AO2 skills - analysis, interpretation and evaluation. Here are some resources that I have used in lessons to help develop these skills through PEEL paragraphs, using brief examples from real essays.
21 mark essay question Crime and the Media
Rape as an issue
Rape comes up a lot during discussions when teaching Crime and Deviance, particularly at A level, but also at GCSE. Whilst it can be a difficult topic for some, I welcome the discussions and am particularly keen to get students discussing current political views. The American Presidential elections are proving most fertile as grounds to engage students...
Views of rape as expressed by various candidates
SCLY1 Families and Households Revision
Families and Households assessment consists of a 1hr exam, answering 3 short questions and 2 24 mark essay questions.
This unit can be split into 7 topics, all of which of course have links with one another:
· Demography
· Functions of the Family
· Couples and the Domestic Division of Labour
· Family Diversity
· Childhood
· Social Policy
· Marriage, Divorce and Cohabitation
read more...»Parents and Educational attainment
Supportive parents do more than good schools to boost children's exam results, a study suggests. The BBC highlight a new report from the US telling us what we probably already know! Read about it here .
Sociology Inequality - taught my capuchin monkeys!
Experiments with capuchin monkeys show that they understand the concept of fairness and inequality - perhaps better than humans! A greater starter for lessons.
read more...»Suicide and the Modern Middle-Aged Male
A somewhat worrying report here in the Telegraph which focuses attention on the relatively high rates of suicide among middle-aged men, particularly the poor.
read more...»Domestic abuse: new guidelines
The definition of domestic abuse has been widened so it covers forms of non-violent coercive behaviour and under-18s for the first time. Read about it on the BBC.
Education around the World - Compare and Contrast these Classrooms
A fascinating series of images here in this Guardian photostream which illustrate a variety of classroom environments around the globe.
read more...»Do you feel rich or poor?
Can the difference between rich and poor be measured, in some way, by how wealthy people "feel"? What factors determine whether someone feels poor or well off?
This feature in the Guardian features some mini interviews with a variety of adults, each with different occupations, remuneration, accumulated savings and housing.
Some fascinating insights into how individual circumstances and attitudes help shape our perception of personal wealth.
SCLY2 Education with Research Methods: Answering Methods in Context Q5
20% of your whole mark for the paper comes from this essay question and it is a tricky one! This question requires you to APPLY your knowledge of research methods to a particular issue in education, this year’s examiners report from AQA states that still, many students are failing to apply the strengths and limitations of the given method to the particular issue presented in the item and that many responses are simply ‘methods essays.’
When answering this question there are 3 aspects to consider:
read more...»Disadvantage and socialisation
BBC's Panorama showed a fantastic programme this evening, looking at life on a housing estate in Blackburn, 'Trouble on the Estate '. The programme is available online and provides fantastic opportunities for discussing issues relating to crime and deviance as well as socialisation and social inequality.
Schools in the UK - Social Segregation
A major new comparative study from the OECD suggests that the UK's school system is socially segregated, with immigrant children clustered in disadvantaged schools. The extent of the segregation and potential educational disadvantage appears to be more significant than most other developed economies.
You can read about the report here in the Telegraph. Lots of good data in there.
The OECD conclude from their research that:
"The socio-economic composition of UK schools poses significant challenges for disadvantaged students and students with an immigrant background,"
Child Poverty in the UK - “It Shouldn’t Happen Here”
The charity Save the Children, best known for helping some of the world's poorest families, has launched an appeal to help UK children, focusing the scale and impact of poverty amongst Britain's poorest communities...
Trade union membership still concentrated in the public sector
Some useful stats here on trade union membership in the UK - albeit from the Telegraph's Deputy Political Editor (so the data comes alongside some political comment and opinion).
read more...»Class, Globalisation and the “Corruption” of Britain’s Public Schools
A number of core themes are addressed in this short opinion piece by the Telegraph's Damian Thompson in which he argues that the traditional ethos of public schools is being "corrupted" by the the growing influence of very rich foreigners.
Thompson accepts that public schools in the UK have always been happy to accept students from overseas and the substantial income that brings. However, he argues that the process of globalisation and rapid economic growth experienced in emerging markets such as Russia has created a new breed of foreign student:
"for the past 20 years, globalisation has been sharpening the greed of a certain sort of public schoolboy. Often this is combined with vague benevolence, but it’s the benevolence of the billionaire smirking as he writes a cheque rather than that of the volunteer whose aim is to liberate ordinary people."
Thompson also argues that "minor" public schools have taken advantage of this change and now actively seek to exploit the parents or guardians of overseas students.
Should children be allowed to be Fifty Shades of Grey?
BBC magazine carried an article a couple of days ago about issues surrounding censorship and the media. In short, the debate was whether or not there should be similar controls on book sales as there are on television (the watershed) and film (age restrictions). Certainly a fertile topic for discussion with lots of scope to develop ideas relating to childhood and the influence of the media.
Gender and commercialism
Plenty of people will have seen this by now, but it should be a great talking point for students at GCSE or A Level when discussing gender issues. I suggest asking them to write their own review!
Bic for Her!
Families - Who’d be a Foster Parent?
A thought-provoking article here which addresses the challenges faced by those in the UK prepared to take on the daunting work of fostering.
According to the Telegraph, there are 87,000 British children in care today. Each one needs a stable, loving environment and children’s homes are a last resort. But with a new child coming into care every 22 minutes, Britain’s fostering system is struggling to cope.
read more...»The Glasgow Effect - Do Poverty, Inequality or Crime Explain the High Mortality Rate?
What is it about living in Glasgow that means people there die significantly younger than elsewhere in the UK?
This feature in the Economist - “No City for Old Men” - explores the fact that Glaswegians die younger than other Britons, but nobody seems to really understand why.
read more...»The Rich Get Healthier…and the Poor Get Poorly?
Is there a direct, causal link between social class and poor health? This article in the Guardian reports on the findings of a new survey by the King’s Fund health thinktank which suggests that there is a clear and widening gap in the health of people in England as measured by their social class.
read more...»Sociology Teacher Resource Newsletter
Our Sociology Teacher Newsletter provides email updates on tutor2u and other teaching resources of interest to GCSE and A level Sociology teachers. To add yourself as a recipient, please complete the form below and then respond to the confirmation email we send you.
read more...»AQA AS Unit 1 Families and Households Scheme of Work
I have recently updated my Unit 1 scheme of work (although there are still a few finishing touches that remain). Please feel free to make use of it or adapt it to suit your students. If you would like to ask about any of the accompanying resources then please get in touch.
read more...»TV in 80 years?
An interesting take on the future development of television as a starting point for discussion. Listen here.
Olympics and statistics
The Olympics is proving fertile ground for considering the validity of statistics. A great defence of Ye Shiwen’s outstanding performance, against accusations of doping, is provided by the BBC.
Life long learning
A heartwarming story albeit with a bitter-sweet ending!
Read it here.
