1) New topic exploration packs, delivery guides, and example curriculum plans covering topics like functionalism, Marxism, globalization, crime and deviance. 2) Updates on practice papers, sample answers, podcasts, and textbooks from publishers. 3) Information on feedback opportunities, online forums, and social media communities for interacting with other sociology students and teachers.

1. OCR Sociology
BSA Teaching Group Event
Sheffield University
July 2016
Helen Hemmings and Dawn Manns

2. OCR Sociology Update
• New resources keep on coming!

3. OCR Sociology Update
• A Level Practice Papers
• Component 3 Candidate style answers

4. OCR Sociology Update
Topic Exploration Packs
• Functionalism
• Marxism
• Coming soon! Feminism
• Coming soon! Postmodernism

5. OCR Sociology Update
Delivery Guides
• Updated Globalisation and
the digital social world
• New! Crime and deviance
• New! Education
http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/as‐a‐level‐gce‐sociology‐h180‐h580‐from‐2015/delivery‐guide/

6. OCR Sociology Update
• Online scheme of work

7. OCR Sociology Update
• Detailed example curriculum plan
• More Lesson Elements…

8. OCR Sociology Update
Podcasts coming soon!

9. OCR Sociology Update
Hodder have published OCR
Sociology Textbook 2 to
support the delivery of
Component 3

10. OCR Sociology Update
• OCR CPD
o Feedback on AS 2016 exam series?
o Globalisation and the digital social world?
o Crime and deviance?
https://www.cpdhub.ocr.org.uk/DesktopDefault.aspx?e=fjefcbdbhgnidcpoonie&CATN_
ID=1
• Policy update ‐ http://www.ocr.org.uk/news/the‐briefing‐newsletter/

11. OCR Sociology Update
Why study sociology
poster?
http://www.ocr.org.uk/Images/301817‐why‐study‐sociology‐poster.pdf

12. OCR Sociology Update
• OCR Sociology Forum in April:
– Professor Jane Millar, University of Bath on change, choice and
constraint in family and work.
– Professor David Oswell, Goldsmiths University of London on
childhood.
– Dr Jackie Turton, University of Essex on women and the criminal
justice system.

13. OCR Sociology Update
International Sociology Discussion
In Ghana there is
growing gym culture
influenced by the
wealthy travelling
the world and paying
more attention to
their body – they are
wanting to adopt a
Western image.
Watching Jersey
Shore, Keeping up
with the Kardashians
and Real Housewives
in both the UK and
Ghana!
‘Everyone wants an
IPhone’
Retirement homes
are not common in
Ghana ‐ elderly live
with their family

14. OCR Sociology Update
• eCommunity: http://social.ocr.org.uk/groups/sociology

15. Questions for you!
• Has anyone here bought a Starbucks before?
• Does anyone here own a smart phone?
• Does anyone have a Facebook account?
• Does anyone use Twitter or Whats App?
• http://wearesocial.com/uk/special‐reports/digital‐in‐2016

16. Globalisation and the digital social world
Short discussion:
What are the benefits and the problems of
Facebook / Twitter / blogs / online forums?

17. Globalisation and the digital social world
Social inequalities Identity
RelationshipsCulture
IMPACTS ON

18. Globalisation and the digital social world
• Digital divide: global and local level
• Wealthy have greater access to technologies / latest models
• Digital generational divide – elderly less likely to access the
internet
• State schools less likely to afford technologies compared to
independent schools
• Internet usage lower amongst the disabled
• Men and women use digital communications differently
• UCL why we post ‐ social media does bring benefits to previously
excluded populations but it doesn’t necessarily have any impact
on exclusion and oppression offline
Social inequalities

19. Globalisation and the digital social world
• Less hierarchy in knowledge
• Create new connections increasing social capital
• Cost of technology coming down
• Gap between young and elderly using digital communication is
narrowing
• UK Government Digital Inclusion Strategy
• World Bank, Digital Dividends 2016 Report, includes examples of
people (often women) having the opportunity to run a business from
home https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ty1Gpjho4dQ
Social inequalities

20. Globalisation and the digital social world
• We can narrow our thinking by only interacting with people who
have existing shared views
• We know less about people’s identity as we cannot see facial
expressions, intonation of voice
• What we post or share can be misinterpreted
• Online identity can impact offline identity (e.g. perspective
employers viewing posts)
• Being shaped by capitalist products
Identity

21. Globalisation and the digital social world
• Freed from physical bodies and the constraints they may place
on us
‘My son is 14 with Asperger’s. He socialises online, makes friends across the world,
chats directly to them using head phones…plays interactive games...the vast majority of
his socialising is online, and here he is a normal, witty, fully accepted member of
society…He learns far more effectively online than he does at school...” Elizabeth Archer,
2012, Cerebra
http://www.parentsprotect.co.uk/files/learning_disabilities_autism_internet_safety_parent_guide.pdf
• Control over our identity
• Can reinforce identity by joining groups with a shared interest
• Can reinforce identity by writing blogs
Identity

22. Globalisation and the digital social world
Relationships
• A distraction
• Increase in divorce
• Illusion of companionship
• How authentic are online relationships?
• ‘Men on Tinder ‐ a “licence to use women as they see fit” Dr Jenny van
Hoof (2016) http://www.mmu.ac.uk/news/news‐items/4276/
• Cyber bullying
• How close should we get to people online? Facebook etiquette Holmes
(2010) http://www.socresonline.org.uk/16/1/11.html
• Southeast Turkey: Flirting and harassment ‐
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XkSnH5erPdM

23. Globalisation and the digital social world
Relationships
• Can keep in contact across the globe
• Removal of barriers such as gender or religion
• Form new relationships ‐ opportunity for those who find it hard
to make new connections
• Decreases loneliness
• Online conversations can help us feel closer

24. Globalisation and the digital social world
Cultural homogenisation?
• Social media used to reinforce traditional groups
• UCL Why We Post (2016): In Northern Chile men often work for
long periods in the mines, away from their homes. Social media
helps family and community stay connected.
• Northern Chile: Andean folklore
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=309&v=0RjmSES7ERo
• Tribal voice ‐ https://tribal‐voice.org/
Culture

25. OCR Sociology
Short discussion
What do you think about living in a digital social
world – a positive, or a negative?

26. Contact OCR Sociology
OCRSociology@ocr.org.uk