Introduction to sociology
Brief insight to the topic
The dictionary defines sociology as the systematic study of society and social interaction. The word “sociology” is derived from the Latin word socius (companion) and the Greek word logos (speech or reason), which together mean “reasoned speech about companionship”. However the real life implication of sociology cannot be contained to a single definition. This chapter enables students to get started on the journey of discovering the subject which is a useful tool to understand human behaviour and its ever changing nature.
Text books
Karnataka state board 8th grade Social science text book
This chapter as in the text book is easy to understand. It has a good amount of information about the sociologists as well. However it may be tedious for students to read as it is very theoretical. Showing videos or having activities in class can be a great help.
Useful websites
This resource can help build a fundamental understanding of sociology as a concept using real life, basic examples.
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/marx/
https://durkheim.uchicago.edu/
https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/weber/
Biographies and interesting snippets about the Western sociologists mentioned in syllabus.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4FduU3EokBY
This video provides an interesting viewpoint in addition to the ones mentioned above, delving upon modern aspects as well.
This video can be showed to students as well, as it has some real life examples applicable even today.
Class activities
Students should be encouraged to reflect upon norms and rules, to understand a basic idea of society. Divide the class into groups of 4 and ask students to note down what rules or norms they all commonly follow, be it in school or at home . Once they are done, they can share what they have listed to the class. This would make them realise what are some of the basic rules of society that all lists possibly have and how societies evolve.