SOCIOLOGY AND ECONOMICS CURRICULUM

TABLE OF DISTRIBUTION OF PERIODS PER WEEK/YEAR

Secondary Education

SCOPE AND SEQUENCE

FIRST SECONDARY

SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

CONTENT – SOCIOLOGY

CONTENT – ECONOMICS

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.

3. Use his background knowledge to understand different economic conditions.

4. Use the basic principles in finance and management to understand the economic conditions of economic life.

SECONDARY FIRST – CONTENT

A- SOCIOLOGY

1- Sociology and society (4 periods)

n Subject matter of sociology observing and understanding social phenomena.

n Domains of levels of observation and analysis.

n Utility of sociology.

2- Evolution of human societies (6 periods)

n Preindustrial societies.

n Industrial societies.

n Post- industrial societies:

- Social and economic aspects.

- Factors of polarization and change.

3- Social groups (7 periods)

n Nuclear and extended family.

n Professional group.

n Political group.

n Social group:

- Youth

- Woman

- Scout

- Athletes

- Congregations

4- Social structure, social stratification and elites (8 periods)

n The structure of local society.

n Forms of social structures: formal and informal.

n social institutions of civil society:

- Associations and Leagues

- Clubs

- Political parties

- Trade unions

n Systems of social stratification:

- Criteria of social stratification.

- Differences between stratification systems.

- Examples of different stratification systems.

n Kinds of elites:

- Traditional Elites.

- Modern Elites.

- Elites political authority in modern societies.

n Leader ship dynamism in youth movements.

5- Communication in society (5 periods)

n Communication and forms of expression.

- Direct forms: speech and statements.

- Indirect forms: humour, jokes and allusions.

n Communication and mass media:

- Broadcasting: radio.

- Print: press.

- Audio-visual: TV and Video.

n Communication through computers and networks (Internet).

B- ECONOMICS

ECONOMIC LIFE

1- Topics in Economics (2 periods)

2- Labor and labor force (5 periods)

3- Capital (5 periods)

n Definition

n Forms

n Financial sources

4- Economic enterprise (6 periods)

n Definition

n Functions

n Kinds

n Legal status

5- Income (4 periods)

n Definition

n Distribution

n Redistribution

6- Budgeting of family income

n Consumption

n Savings

n Factors affecting consumption and savings.

n Central tendency and dispersion.

SECONDARY SECOND – HUMANITIES SECTION – SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

A - Sociology

The objectives of teaching sociology and economics are to make the student:

1. Have full understanding of the process of socialization.

2. Know the important changes and the adolescent’s adaptation to positive values.

3. Learn how to address social problems and study their effects on the security and well-being of the society.

4. Know how to use his experience in fieldwork and data collection to participate in local development and social services.

B - Economics

1. Assimilate the operational concepts needed to understand the mechanisms of economic activities.

2. Skilled in fieldwork and data collection to develop his personal capacities and aptitudes.

3. Learn the techniques of analysis in economics and accounting.

SECONDARY SECOND – HUMANITIES SECTION – CONTENT

A- SOCIOLOGY

1- Process of socialization (8 periods)

n Normative order.

n Agents of socialization: kinds, structure and function.

n Problems of socialization: mechanisms of social control, participation and innovation.

2- Adolescence and social adaptation (7 periods)

n Adolescence

n Adolescence and social integration:

- adolescence and social order.

n Forms of Maladjustment:

- Delinquency

- Isolation and introversion

- Vagabondage

- Deviance

3- Youth and society (7 periods)

n Youth and social integration

- School and University

- Enterprise

- Volunteering

- Marriage and family

n Youth and social participation:

- Attitude and public opinion

- Communication, interaction and voting

- Volunteering in associations

n Youth and delinquency:

- Forms of delinquency

- Dealing with problems of delinquency

4- Social problems (8 periods)

n Poverty and unemployment

n Extremism

n Rural migration and urbanization

n Alcoholism, drug addition and aids

n Handicapping

n Ageing

5- Social work and intervention (30 periods)

n Agents of intervention:

- Governmental organizations

- Non-governmental organizations

- Examples from Lebanon and the world

n Ways of intervention:

- Social Aid

- Social services

- Social activation

- Social mediation and negotiation to resolve conflicts.

n Levels of intervention:

- Individual

- Family

- Group

- Social milieu

n Sectors of intervention:

- Health

- Education

- Institutions

- Generating income

n Target groups of intervention:

- Children

- Youth

- Women

- Aged

- Local group and society

- Other categories

n Domains of intervention:

- School - Club

- Hospital - Trade unions

- Prison - Political parties

- Quarter - Municipality

Note: Every academic year two or three problems will be selected from the list above according to a ministerial decree, added to it any problem of international concern.

B- ECONOMICS

ECONOMIC MECHANISMS AND ACTIVITIES

1- Economic circuit (5 periods)

n Economic agents.

n Economic operations.

2- National accounting (5 periods)

n Definition, function and rules.

n Main giant enterprises.

n Main economic ratios.

3- Currency and banks (6 periods)

n Currency: definition and function, forms and the international monetary system.

n Banks: origin, functions, kinds, currency issuing Central Bank and monetary policy.

4- Market mechanisms (4 periods)

n Definition of market economy.

n Law of demand and supply.

n Factors affecting demand and supply.

n Free competition.

n Forms of monopoly.

n State intervention in the market.

5- Foreign trade (3 periods)

n Balance of payments.

n Foreign trade: globalization and specialization.

n Foreign trade policies.

6- Public finance (2 periods)

n State balance sheet.

n Local authorities finance.

7- Public accounting (5 periods)

n Budget

n Investment and account.

SECONDARY SECOND – SCIENCES SECTION – SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

A - Sociology

1. Have full understanding of the process of socialization.

2. Know the main changes and the adolescent's adaptation to positive values.

3. Learn how to address social problems and study their effects on the security and well-being of the society.

B- Economics

1. Assimilate the operational concepts needed to understand the mechanisms of economic activities.

2. Skilled in fieldwork and data collection to develop his personal capacities and aptitudes.

3. Learn the techniques of analysis in economics and accounting.

SECONDARY SECOND – SCIENCES SECTION – CONTENT

A- SOCIOLOGY

1- Process of socialization (8 periods)

n Normative order.

n Agents of socialization: kinds, structure and functions.

n Problems of socialization: mechanisms of social control, participation and innovation.

2- Adolescence and social adaptation:

n Adolescence.

n Adolescence and social integration: adolescence and social order.

n forms of maladjustment:

- Delinquency

- Vagabondage

- Isolation and introversion

- Deviance

3- Youth and society (7 periods)

n Youth and social integration.

- School and University

- Enterprise

- Volunteering

- Marriage and family

n Youth and social participation.

- Attitude and public opinion.

- Communication, interaction and voting.

- Volunteering in different associations.

n Youth and delinquency.

- Forms of delinquency.

- Dealing with problems of delinquency.

4- Social problems (4 periods)

n Poverty and unemployment.

n Extremism.

n Rural migration and urbanization.

n Alcoholism, drug addiction and Aids

n Handicapping.

n Ageing.

Note: Every academic year two or three social problems will be selected from the list above according to a ministerial decree, added to it any problem of international concern.

B- ECONOMICS

ECONOMIC MECHANISMS AND ACTIVITIES

1- Economic circuit (5 periods)

n Economic agents.

n Economic operations.

2- National accounting (5 periods)

n Definition, function and rules.

n Main giant enterprises.

n Main economic ratios.

3- Currency and banks (6 periods)

n Currency: Definition and function, forms and the international monetary system.

n Banks: origin, functions, kinds, currency issuing Central Bank and monetary policy.

4- Market mechanisms (4 periods)

n Definition and market economy.

n Law of demand and supply.

n Factors affecting demand and supply.

n Free competition.

n Forms of monopoly.

n State intervention in the market.

5- Foreign trade (3 periods)

n Balance of payments.

n Foreign trade: globalisation and specialization.

n Foreign trade policies.

6- Public finance (2 periods)

n State balance sheet.

n Local authorities finance.

7- Public accounting (5 periods)

n Budget.

n Investment and Account.

SECONDARY THIRD – SOCIOLOGY & ECONOMICS SECTION – SPECIFIC OBJECTIVES

A- Sociology

1. Realize the interrelationship between social and economic variables of social phenomena to familiarize the student with using a multidisciplinary approach that ensures the complementation between social sciences.

2. Conceive the continuity between secondary and university education through learning about the basic principles of the following academic disciplines: sociology, economics, business administration, political sciences, banking, marketing, applied statistics, social work and development.

3. Use the scientific method in dealing with social issues using different mental processes as remembering, comprehending, applying, analyzing and restructuring.

4. Have a theoretical background to use in interpreting main social phenomena and explore their determinants and underlying forces.

5. Familiar with the social and developmental policies that lead to social solidarity.

6. Use his background knowledge in fieldwork, theory and techniques of analysis to understand the structure of the Lebanese society.

B- Economics

1. Know about different international policies in development and deduce the rules required to make an underdeveloped country a developed one.

2. Know about the conjunctural and structural policies in economics that the state adopts to develop the national economy.

3. Learn the basic principles of qualitative and quantitative analysis in economics and become trained in this domain.

4. Learn the basic concepts of administrative sciences.

SECONDARY SECOND – SOCIOLOGY & ECONOMICS SECTION – CONTENT

A- SOCIOLOGY

1- Culture and society (15 periods)

n Elements of culture.

n Cultural diversity.

n Cultural traditionalism and innovation.

n Material basis of cultural activity.

n Problems of modernization and cultural domination.

2- Social values (16 periods)

n Definition of social values. (12 periods)

n Value systems in preindustrial and post industrial societies.

n Transmission of values.

3- Social inequality and mobility (15 periods)

n social inequality.

n Social mobility.

n Social inequality and the political order.

4- Social integration and solidarity (13 periods)

n Social integration and social inequality.

n Conditions of social integration.

n Domains of integration.

n Policy of integration and acculturation.

5- Social change (15 periods)

n Types of social change

n Determinants of change:

- External

- Internal

- Subjective

- Objective

n Social change on the national and local level.

n Forces of change: institutionalized and non institutionalized.

n Resistance to change: causes and ways.

6- Social policies (15 periods)

n Definition and types.

n Social policies in education and urban planning.

n Social participation on the local level (quarter, village).

7- Sociology (15 periods)

n Sociology as a new science.

n Methodology in sociology.

n Research techniques.

8- The Lebanese society (16 periods)

n Social structure: Horizontal aspect (socio-economic strata) and vertical aspect (confessional communities).

n Demographic characteristics.

n Decision making on local levels.

n Tradition and modernity in Residence.

- Relation with the other sex.

- Modes of consumption.

v According to a ministerial decree one problem of international concern can be a daled.

B- ECONOMICS

1- Growth and development (30 periods)

n Industrial revolutions.

n International division of labour and economic development of non-industrial countries.

n Social and economic conditions of developing countries in the post-colonial period.

n The notion of development:

- Concepts

- Indications: economic, financial, social, demographic, cultural - political and public health.

n Strategies of development in developing countries.

2- Contemporary economic systems and the role of the state (5 periods):

n Market economy systems.

- the classical perspective.

- the modern perspective.

n Planned economy systems.

- Mechanisms and processes.

- Status-qus.

3- Economic crises and fluctuations (8 periods)

n Morphology of economic circuit.

- Expansion

- Recession

- Crisis

- Depression

n Fluctuations:

- Inflation

- Shortage in demand

- Stagflation

- Stagnation

n Crises

- Deteriorating terms of foreign trade.

- 1929 crisis: causes and results.

- 1970’s crisis: causes and results.

4- Economic policies: conjunctural and structural (17 periods)

n Conjunctural policies:

Introduction: concept of economic: conjuncture.

Policy of economic reform:

- Financial in centives.

- Monetary centives.

- Other centives.

Anti-inflation policy:

- Price control policy.

- Financial policy.

- Circumstantial solution.

- Monetary policy.

- Income policy.

n Structural policies:

Agrarian policy:

- Policy of price subsidizing.

- Policy of improving infra structures.

- Main options for industrial policy.

- Industrial policy.

- Elements of industrial policy.

Employment policy:

- The classical policy.

- Rehabilitation of labor force.

- Policy of maintaining job opportunities.

- Liberal solutions.

- Circumstantial solutions.

- Policy of providing new job opportunities.

5- Economic and financial analysis (30 periods)

n Fixed and variable cost of production.

n Function of consumption.

n Investment.

n Basics of economic and financial evaluations (applications).

n Introduction to financial analysis.

n Compound interest.

n Function of production.

n Simple interest.

n Working capital.

6- Introduction to administrative science (30 periods)

n Definition, forms and kinds of:

- Planning

- Organization

- Control

- Orientation

n Decision making.

n Marketing:

- Basic concepts.

- Market research.

- Constraints of the market.