Skills you learn from Sociology (Year 9)

This is one of three lesson plans for teachers introducing Sociology to Year 9 students:

• Jobs that use Sociology (Year 9)
• Skills you learn from Sociology (Year 9)
• Why study GCSE Sociology? (Year 9)

These lesson plans will help you show students how Sociology connects to their future careers.

We recommend using this lesson plan at the end of the autumn term. By this point students will have had time to notice the kinds of patterns Sociology asks about - through PSHE, History, English, the news, or their own observations of family, school, and friends. Recognising those skills helps students see Sociology as more than a set of opinions about society, and sets them up for GCSE choices in the spring.

---

Learning objectives

• Students will understand that Sociology builds a broad range of transferable skills.
• Students will be able to name 2-3 skills they recognise from patterns they've already noticed, and give examples.

---

Before the lesson

• You will need a computer connected to the internet and a classroom screen.
• Open the What can you do with Sociology? page and have it ready on the screen.
• Review the Skills that Sociology builds section and think of teaching examples for each one - a news story about inequality, a debate that's come up in PSHE, a pattern from History, a difference between how schools work in different places.

---

During the lesson

1. What patterns have we noticed about people and groups? (5 mins)

• Ask students to call out patterns they've noticed in society this year - in PSHE, History, English, the news, or their own lives. Things like why do certain jobs end up dominated by one gender?, why does where you grow up shape so much about your life?, why do some groups get more attention in the news than others?, why do some families look very different from others?
• Write the suggestions on the board and highlight any patterns.

2. Skills that Sociology builds (15 mins)

• Bring up the What can you do with Sociology? page on the classroom screen.
• Review the contents of the page with students so that they understand what it covers.
• Scroll to the Skills that Sociology builds section and work through each skill in turn.
  • Ask students which pattern from the board involved that skill - questioning what seems obvious, weighing different explanations, designing a way to actually find out, or listening carefully to people whose lives differ from theirs.
  • Share your own teaching examples if students are stuck.

3. Making it personal (10 mins)

• Ask students to pick 2-3 skills from the list they feel they've used when thinking or talking about society.
• Go round the class, asking each student to name one skill and give an example of when they used it.
• Close by reminding students that these are valuable skills for work and life, not just for exams.

---

After the lesson

• Share the What can you do with Sociology? page with students and their parents/carers:
  • www.coffeewith.xyz/subjects/what-can-you-do-with-sociology
• Encourage parents/carers to explore the page with their child and to discuss the contents.
• Use the School Tools / Activities feature to record the lesson activity:
  • Activity name: Year 09 - Skills you learn from Sociology
  • Activity type: Linking curriculum learning to careers
• Read the follow-on lesson plan:
  • Why study GCSE Sociology? (Year 9)