Week 13: Education & Religion

homeschooling

the practice of parents, guardians, or teams of adults educating their children at home, for religious, philosophical, or safety reasons

literacy

the ability to read and write

tracking

grouping students by “abililty”

hidden cirriculum

lessons students learn at school that aren’t part of the official curriculum

functional literacy

everyday reading, writing, and math skills

standardized testing

a procedure whereby all students in a state take the same test under the same conditions

religion

a set of beliefs adhered to by the members of a community, incorporating symbols regarded with a sense of awe or wonder together with ritual practices

theism

a belief in one or more supernatural deities

secular thinking

worldly thinking, particularly as seen in the rise of science, technology, and rational thought in general

secularization

a process of decline in the influence of religion

religious economy

a theoretical framework within the sociology of religion that argues that religions can be fruitfully understood as organizations in competition with one another for followers

church

a large established religious body, normally having a formal bureaucratic structure and a hierarchy of religious officials

sect

a religious movement that breaks away from the larger organization and follows its own unique set of rules and principles

denomination

a former sect that becomes mainstream and well-organized

cult

a small, loosely organized group with unusual beliefs and no formal structure (often reject mainstream values and exist in tension with wider society)

religious nationalism

the linking of strongly held religious convictions with beliefs about a people’s social and political destiny