VCE Sociology case studies
VCE Sociology · Put your knowledge to work in context.
VCE Sociology is a Victorian Certificate of Education study accredited by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) for an accreditation period from 2024. The study design covers Units 1 to 4 and sets out areas of study, outcomes and assessment for students working through the sequence from 2024. The VCE Sociology case studies are 5 cases and about 2,739 words.
1The Newcomer and the Hidden Curriculum
A regional secondary college of 1,150 students has welcomed 40 newly arrived families, mostly from Afghanistan and South Sudan, in one term. Teachers report that the newcomers are 'polite but disengaged': they rarely ask questions, sit silently in group work, and several have stopped attending the after-school homework club.
564 words, about 3 min2Who Counts as a Family?
A suburban council is updating its family-services directory. The 2021 Census showed 41% of local households are couple families with children, 18% are one-parent families, 14% are couples without children, 24% are lone-person households, and 3% are group households.
543 words, about 3 min3Reading the Gap Without Overclaiming
A Year 12 student is analysing Australian inequality for a research task. She has three sources: (1) a national survey showing the top 20% of households hold 62% of household wealth while the bottom 20% hold under 1%; (2) a local newspaper report that 'welfare dependency is rising in our suburb' based on interviews with two shopkeepers; (3) a government report showing unemployment in the region at 6.8% compared with 3.9% nationally.
568 words, about 3 min4The Statue, the Council and the Public Sphere
A city council votes 6–5 to relocate a 19th-century statue of a colonial governor from the main square to a museum, adding a plaque explaining his role in frontier violence. A petition against relocation gains 8,000 signatures; a counter-petition gains 11,000.
525 words, about 3 min5Workplace Change and the Method Choice
A union at a food-processing plant reports that since a new automated packing line opened, 60 of 200 workers have been moved to night shift, injury reports have doubled, and agency staff now make up a third of the workforce. Management says productivity is up 14% and that 'workers were consulted'.
539 words, about 3 min