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Key Terms and Concepts: Education & Sociological Perspectives (AQA GCSE Sociology): Revision Note

Raj Bonsor

Written by: Raj Bonsor

Reviewed by: Lucy Vinson

Updated on

Key terms and concepts: education & sociological perspectives

  • In both Paper 1 and 2, you will be asked to define selected key terms as used by sociologists

  • You will also need to make use of appropriate specialist language in your answers to the exam questions

  • Apart from the terms listed here, you will not be expected to be familiar with any other key terms related to the education topic

  • Knowing these key terms and concepts will:

    • make it easier for you to understand the subject content across the entire GCSE course

    • help you draw links across the topics so that you can answer the extended writing questions effectively

Education and Sociological Perspectives

academy

achievement

anti-school subculture

citizenship

competition

comprehensive school

compulsory state education

conformity

consensus

continuity

correspondence principle

counter school subculture

cultural capital

cultural deprivation

cultural values

culture

curriculum

dark figure of crime

de-schooling

discrimination

economy

education

education reform

egalitarian

eleven plus

employment

ethnic diversity

ethnic group

ethnic minority

ethnicity

ethnocentric curriculum

(school) ethos

(school) exclusion

expectations

fee paying school

feminism

feminists

formal curriculum

formal education

free school

functionalism

functionalists

functionally important roles

further education

gender

gender roles

gendered curriculum

glass ceiling

hidden curriculum

higher education

home tuition

image

immigrant

immigration

inclusion

income

independent school

informal education

institutional racism

intelligence quotient

interactionism

interest or pressure groups

labelling

league tables

life chances

lifestyle

lone parent family

marketisation of education

Marxism

Marxist

mass media

master status

middle class

mixed ability

news value

norms

Ofsted

organised religion

particularistic standards

pluralism

popular press

private school

privatisation

propaganda

public examinations

public school

quality press

racial discrimination

racism

role conflict

roles

rural

sanctions

SATs

secondary socialisation

selective schools

self-fulfilling prophecy

setting in education

sex or gender discrimination

sex or gender equality

sexism

social change (of attitudes)

social class

social cohesion

social construct

social control

social convention

social exclusion

social welfare state inequality

social mobility

social network

social stratification

socialisation

socially defined behaviour

society

special school

specialist school

status

stereotype

subculture

teacher expectations

technological change

theoretical perspective

trend

tripartite system

universal standards

urban

value consensus

values

vocationalism in education

welfare state

working class

world view

youth culture

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    Author
    Reviewer
    Raj Bonsor

    Author: Raj Bonsor

    Expertise: Psychology & Sociology Content Creator

    Raj joined Save My Exams in 2024 as a Senior Content Creator for Psychology & Sociology. Prior to this, she spent fifteen years in the classroom, teaching hundreds of GCSE and A Level students. She has experience as Subject Leader for Psychology and Sociology, and her favourite topics to teach are research methods (especially inferential statistics!) and attachment. She has also successfully taught a number of Level 3 subjects, including criminology, health & social care, and citizenship.

    Lucy Vinson

    Author: Lucy Vinson

    Expertise: Psychology Subject Lead

    Lucy has been a part of Save My Exams since 2024 and is responsible for all things Psychology & Social Science in her role as Subject Lead. Prior to this, Lucy taught for 5 years, including Computing (KS3), Geography (KS3 & GCSE) and Psychology A Level as a Subject Lead for 4 years. She loves teaching research methods and psychopathology. Outside of the classroom, she has provided pastoral support for hundreds of boarding students over a four year period as a boarding house tutor.