Key Words

Question 1

Social cohesion

Answer 1

Refers to the bonds or ‘glue’ that bring people together and intergrate them into a united society

Question 2

Social mobility

Answer 2

Movement of groups or individuals up or down the social hierarchy

Question 3

Functional prerequisites

Answer 3

The basic needs that must be met if society is to survive

Question 4

Hidden curriculum

Answer 4

Concerns not so much the formal content of subject lessons and exams, as the way teaching and learning are organized

Question 5

Social solidarity

Answer 5

The integration of people into society through shared values, a common culture, shared understandings and social ties that bring them together and build social cohesion

Question 6

Particularistic values

Answer 6

Rules and values that give a priority to personal relationships

Question 7

Universalistic values

Answer 7

Rules and values that apply equally to all members of society, regardless of who they are

Question 8

Meritocracy

Answer 8

A society where jobs and pay are allocated on the basis purely of people’s individual talents, abilities, qualifications and skills

Question 9

Human capital

Answer 9

The knowledge and skills possessed by a workforce that increases that workforce’s value and usefulness to employers

Question 10

Division of Labour

Answer 10

The division of work or occupations into a large number of specialized tasks, each of which is carried out by one worker or a group of workers

Question 11

Equality of educational opportunity

Answer 11

The idea that every child regardless of their social class background, ability to pay school fees, ethnic background, gender, or disability, should have an equal chance at developing their talents and abilities and of doing as well as his or her ability will allow

Question 12

Marketization

Answer 12

The process whereby services, like education or health, that were previously controlled and run by the state, had government or local council control reduced or removed altogether, and become subject to the free market choices of supply and demand, based on competition and consumer choice

Question 13

False consciousness

Answer 13

Failure by members of a social class to recognize their real interests

Question 14

Ideological state apparatuses

Answer 14

Agencies which serve to spread the ideology, and justify the power of the dominant social class

Question 15

Habitus

Answer 15

The cultural framework and set of ideas possessed by a social class

Question 16

Cultural capital

Answer 16

The knowledge, language, manners and forms of behaviour, attitudes and values, taste and lifestyle which give middle class and upper class students who possess them an in-built advantage in a middle class controlled education system

Question 17

Hegemony

Answer 17

The dominance in society of the ruling class’s set of ideas over others, and acceptance of and consent to them by the rest of society

Question 18

Hegemonic control

Answer 18

Control of the working class is mainly achieved by the hegemony and acceptance of ruling class ideas

Question 19

Subculture

Answer 19

A smaller culture held by a group or class of people within the main culture of society, in some ways different from the main culture, but with many aspects in common

Question 20

Anti-school/Counter-school subculture

Answer 20

A group organized around a set of values, attitudes and behaviour in opposition to the main aims of a school

Question 21

Sexism

Answer 21

Prejudice and discrimination against people, especially women, because of their sex

Question 22

Globalization

Answer 22

The growing interconnectedness of societies across the world, with the spread of the same culture, consumer goods and economic interests across the globe