This paper is for teachers and other staff who provide learning, teaching and support as learners work towards
People and Society National 3.
Curriculum for Excellence is a unique opportunity to raise achievement and to ensure that all learners are better prepared than they have been in the past for learning, life and work. This is because the new curriculum gives real scope to build learning from 3 –18 in a joined-up, seamless way. As a result, progression in learning can be much stronger with a clear focus on attributes and capabilities, skills (including higher-order thinking skills), and knowledge and understanding. These are delivered through the experiences and outcomes of the 3 –15 Broad
General Education (BGE) and, at the senior phase, through programmes that build directly on the BGE leading to qualifications. Because of a strengthened focus on the nature and quality of learning experiences, self-motivation is likely to be increased and learners consequently more engaged and enthused. To ensure continuity and progression, qualifications at the senior phase have been designed to embrace this unambiguous focus on highquality learning.
Curriculum for Excellence has the flexibility to meet the needs of all learners in their local circumstances, enabling each to achieve their very best. For example, some centres may take the opportunity to offer qualifications over two years which might involve learners bypassing qualifications at a given level, whereas others may enable learners to work towards qualifications within one year. In both cases, the advice in this paper is relevant to the learning and teaching approaches that learners will encounter. This paper, then, is intended to stimulate professional reflection and dialogue about learning. It highlights important features of learning which are enhanced or different from previous arrangements at this SCQF level.
How will you plan for progression in learning and teaching, building on the BGE, to meet the needs of learners?
People and Society National 3 consists of three Units offering learners the opportunity to study themes, issues and topics of interest and relevance to them. There is no mandatory course content which allows flexibility and great scope for personalisation and choice. It develops a range of skills as well as knowledge and understanding of people and society from across subject disciplines, drawing on the social studies, health and well-being, and religious and moral education curriculum areas.
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Investigating Skills
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Comparing and Contrasting
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Making Decisions

PEOPLE AND SOCIETY
Key aspects of People and Society National 3
Integrated approach to skills development
People and Society National 3 is skills-based and integrates knowledge across key concepts drawn in an interdisciplinary manner from social subjects, social sciences, and religious and moral education. Learning will focus on developing skills in investigating, making decisions, and comparing and contrasting . Staff should note that while each Unit has a clear skills-focus for assessment, these skills are transferrable – effective learning and teaching will subsequently develop each skill-set across the respective Units.
One theme will be chosen in each Unit, which should be studied by adopting the approach of more than one subject discipline, those from at least two social subjects. Each Unit must be linked to two key ideas drawn from the social subjects/social sciences. In order to provide coherence, one key idea must be common across all three Units of the programme. Staff will thereby facilitate learners’ skill development – and the application of these skills – by providing them with a high degree of choice in the topic or issue chosen for study throughout the respective Unit areas. The interdisciplinary nature of learning about people and society naturally lends itself to an integration of learners ’ skills development.
Range of evidence
The approaches to assessment are now far broader ; facilitating greater personalisation and choice in learners’ skills development. Digital presentations, recorded video/DVD, written work, podcasts, wall displays and presentations are all valid examples of ways in which assessment evidence could be generated. Staff should consider imaginative approaches to the gathering of a rich range of naturally occurring evidence, which will best reflect the depth and application of learning.
Added Value
There is no added value unit in the National 3 course.
Hierarchy of Units
The hierarchy of Units allows for a flexible approach to be adopted by staff, enabling learners to tackle Units and
Course Assessments at the most appropriate level. Careful planning, however, will be required for any movement between National 3 and National 4, to ensure that learners complete the necessary outcome and assessment standards for each respective Unit taught.
What are the key features of learning in People and Society National 3?
Active learning
People and society naturally lends itself to the promotion of a variety of different active learning strategies.
Learners are encouraged to think independently and to apply their opinions and views to real-life contexts with regard to topical issues which cut across subject areas in an interdisciplinary manner. Depth and application of learning can be enhanced by the approaches to learning and teaching that staff use. Learners should be motivated by coherent and enjoyable lessons over which they have an influence. Learners should be actively engaged in their learning; staff should work closely with learners in devising stimulating experiences that allow for personalisation and choice at all levels. Learners can be actively involved in this process through class debate, staff-led questioning, peer assessment and co-operative learning strategies, for example.
How will you plan opportunities for learners to take a more active role in their learning?

PEOPLE AND SOCIETY
Learners will be encouraged to develop an increased awareness of themselves as learners through personalisation and choice. The interdisciplinary nature of the learning allows for relevant themes, contexts and topics to be chosen by learners for whole-class or individual study, thereby ensuring learner engagement and enjoyment as they choose areas they are interested in. Learners will be encouraged to take on challenges through the approaches to learning and teaching staff use. For example, a critical-skills-based approach to a historical event could help in this process. People and Society National 3 enables learners to make informed choices through reasoned debate and discussion. Learners should be involved at all stages in monitoring their own progress including, for example, by maintaining their own learning logs.
How will you encourage learners to engage in dialogue and reflection over their choice of topic or issue?
How might you develop a more flexible approach, embedding personalisation and choice and encouraging learners
to take responsibility for learning?
Collaborative learning
Staff should promote collaborative working and independent thinking and learning by embedding interdisciplinary links, perhaps building on those from the BGE. Teamwork approaches readily lend themselves to learning and teaching approaches in people and society. Examples of where effective collaborative working practices could be promoted include role-play exercises on a criminal trial, news report presentations on the recent cases of racism or factual displays on the how health care is provided by the government. Staff should look to embed roles and responsibilities within the lessons they create. This could be done, for example, by using co-operative learning practices or a critical skills approach that require every learner to be engaged in learning. Ensuring responsibility is a shared process across the learning should promote a willingness in learners to address challenges set by staff, while also developing learners’ interpersonal skills.
How will you ensure that learners use their initiative and work together effectively during group tasks?
Applying learning
The interdisciplinary nature of people and society requires skills development and application of learning across the contexts selected for study. Investigating, making decisions, and comparing and contrasting should be embedded in a broad range of challenging and enjoyable lessons. A decision-making task that looks at inequalities could be used, for example. Staff could ask learners to investigate the levels of social and economic inequality in Scotland and compare this to the UK-wide picture. This could then be developed and extended through international comparisons, thereby emphasising each skill-set within one task as learners investigate, compare and contrast, and are then asked to explain a decision based on evidence.
Exposing learners to a diverse mixture of texts will also enable them to become more developed in their critical thinking skills. They could do this, for example, by questioning the reliability of data presented from a website.
Through the use of a wide range of numerical, statistical and graphical sources of information learners will become familiar with statistical information in a range of formats, such as election statistics and bar graphs of public opinion surveys. People and society promotes the development of respectful and informed opinions, which will allow learners to exercise their rights, for example. Learners are taught to be respectful of other opinions, in class debate for instance, and can value the place that representation has in their community and the wider world.

PEOPLE AND SOCIETY
Links with other curriculum areas such as other social studies, English and RMPS are essential to help learners apply and make connections in their learning. This will help to ensure that their skills are reinforced and transferrable.
How can you ensure that learners can access opportunities to apply their learning in different curriculum areas?
The SQA website provides you with the following documents
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Course Specification
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Unit Specification
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Couse and Unit Support Notes
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Unit Assessment Support Materials
Full information on arrangements for this qualification is available at the SQA website:
People and Society National 3: http://www.sqa.org.uk/sqa/48602.html
http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/learningteachingandassessment/curriculumareas/socialstudies/principlesandp ractice/index.asp http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/nationalqualifications/subjects/modernstudies.asp
Support materials have been produced over the last year to support Curriculum for Excellence and further support materials and events are planned. This downloadable list is updated quarterly with the most up-to-date details available from the page below.
Published and planned support for Curriculum for Excellence: http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/publishedandplannedsupport
T +44 (0)141 282 5000 E enquiries@educationscotland.gov.uk W www.educationscotland.gov.uk
Education Scotland, Denholm House, Almondvale Business Park, Almondvale Way, Livingston EH54 6GA
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