SOCIOLOGY AND ECONOMICS CURRICULUM

INTRODUCTION

GENERAL OBJECTIVES

TABLE OF DISTRIBUTION OF PERIODS PER WEEK/YEAR

Secondary Education

FIRST SECONDARY

SECOND SECONDARY – HUMANITIES SECTION

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

CONTENT – SOCIOLOGY

CONTENT – ECONOMICS

SECOND SECONDARY – SCIENCES SECTION

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

CONTENT – SOCIOLOGY

CONTENT – ECONOMICS

THIRD SECONDARY – SOCIOLOGY & ECONOMICS SECTION

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

CONTENT – SOCIOLOGY

CONTENT – ECONOMICS

INTRODUCTION

Principles:

As we approach the 2^st century, the whole world is becoming more and more as one socio-economic unit. This goes to what has been achieved in the domain of communication that made the whole world what is known as "The Global Village". Besides, with the emergence of the international market, people started to talk about the universality of culture neglecting its local aspect that is evident in sociology and economics.

On the other hand, the fast progress in technology has restructured the market and means of production, and erased the distinction between manual and mental work as well as between industry, commerce, services and between production and management, This fact made sociology, economics, administration and informatics a must for practicing any career.

In response to the aforementioned, change new subjects were introduced in the curriculum of secondary classes in order to familiarize students, theoretically and practically, with the principles of sociology and economics. These subjects are believed to be necessary to introduce students to different topics like: marketing, organization, redistribution of production and other services.

Accordingly, a new section was added to the Lebanese Baccalaureate named "Sociology and Economics" to help students in choosing their major at the university level in the domain of sociology, economics, management and other human sciences.

Based on this, the curriculum focuses on the topics that help student develop a cosmopolitan view, link what is local with what is universal, and thus become an active member in the global community.

To achieve this goal, it was necessary to link human sciences with experimental sciences taking into consideration the differences in methodology between them.

In fact, what The New Framework of Education in Lebanon implies and what The Plan of Educational Reform stated on 17-8-1994 constitute a clear educational philosophy that aims at improving the educational structure in Lebanon and developing a new educational policy that meets the needs of the new generation and social development.

The purpose of this document is to establish curriculum guidelines to teach informatics as a new instructional subject. It emphasizes teaching the most common computer skills and concepts, and encourages the use of computers in teaching/learning other subjects.

This new curriculum draws on known international and local experiences in the area of computer education, and is in line with the principles of the Educational Reform Plan set by the National Center for Educational Research and Development.

Since informatics is an evolving subject and unique in its need for equipment, teaching should take place in computer labs to emphasize practice in building concepts and knowledge.

GENERAL OBJECTIVES OF TEACHING SOCIOLOGY AND ECONOMICS IN SECONDARY CLASSES

The major goals of teaching Sociology and Economics are to make the student:

1. Have a full understanding of the cultural, behavioral and economic characteristics of different social categories.

2. Notice the interdependence between sociology, economics and management and have a multidimensional view of everyday life.

3. Conceive social and economic problems in Lebanon and how to solve them.

4. Know the scientific dimension of sociology, economics and management, and the social and economic dimension of natural sciences.

5. Deal with economic and social issues rationally and perceive the importance of investment and national production.

6. Able to integrate in his society, participate in different developmental activities and deal with social and economic issues scientifically.

TABLE OF DISTRIBUTION OF PERIODS PER WEEK/YEAR

Stages	Secondary Education
	First year	Second Year		Third year
Year		Humanities	Sciences	Literature and Humanities	Sociology and Economics	General Sciences	Life Sciences
Weekly periods	1* + 1*	2 + 1	1 + 1	-	4 + 4	-	-
Yearly periods	30 + 30	60 + 30	30 + 30		120 + 120	-	-

* The first number refers to Sociology.

* The Second number refers to Economics.

SCOPE AND SEQUENCE

A- SOCIOLOGY

THEME	First Secondary	Second Secondary	Third Secondary
SOCIOLOGY IN THEORY AND PRACTICE	n Sociology and Society		n Sociology and Lebanese Society.
EVOLUTION OF SOCIETIES	n Evolution of societies. n Social groups. n Social structure, stratification and elites.		n Social inequality and social mobility. n Social integration and solidarity. n Social change.
SOCIALIZATION AND SOCIAL COMMUNICATION	n Communication in society.	n Process of socialization. n Adolescence and society. n Youth and society.	n Culture and society. n Social values.
SOCIAL PROBLEMS AND HOW TO SOLVE THEM		n Main social problems. n Social work.	n Social polities.

B- ECONOMICS

THEME	First Secondary	Second Secondary	Third Secondary
ECONOMICS AND MANAGEMENT IN THEORY AND PRACTICE	n Subject matter of economics	n National accounting.	n Introduction to administrative sciences. n Economic and financial analysis.
ECONOMIC LIFE: ACTIVITIES AND MECHANISMS	n Labor and labor force: - Capital - Income - Budgeting of family income	n Currency and banks. n Market mechanisms. n Foreign trade. n Public finance. n Public accounting.
ECONOMIC STRUCTURES	n Economic Institution	n Economic circuit	n Contemporary economic systems and the role of the state.
ECONOMIC FLUCTUATIONS AND HOW TO DEAL WITH THEM			n Economic growth and development. n Economic fluctuations and crises. n Economic policies: conjunctural and structural.

SECONDARY FIRST - SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

A - Sociology:

The objectives of teaching Sociology and Economics are to help the student:

1. Acquire the basic concepts he needs to identify different social condition.

2. Use his background knowledge to understand and analyze social conditions.

3. Use these basic concepts to understand the actual social condition.

4. Understand the utility of sociology.

5. Know about the contemporary social transformations in Lebanon and the Arab World.

6. Learn about the elements of a group and understand the intra-group relation.

B - Economics:

1. Acquire the basic economic concepts needed to understand economic situation.

2. Learn about the enterprises: structure, function and legal status.