Sociology - Chapter 16

hidden curriculum

traits of behaviors or attitudes that are learned at school but not included within formal curriculum (ie gender differences)

cultural capital

advantages that well-to-do parents usually provide their children

tracking

dividing students into groups that receive different instruction on basis of assumed similarities in ability or attainment

achievement gap

disparity on number of educational measures between performance of groups of students (esp. groups defined by gender, race, ethnicity, ability, socioeconomic status)

intelligence

level of intellectual ability, particularly as measured by IQ tests

IQ (intelligence quotient)

a score attained on tests of symbolic or reasoning abilities

acting white" thesis

thesis that black students do not aspire to or strive to get good grades bc it i perceived as "acting white

abstract and concrete attitudes

abstract attitudes (ideas that are consistent with mainstream societal views) vs concrete attitudes (ideas based on actual experience)

cultural navigators

ppl who draw from both home culture and mainstream culture to create attitude that allows them to succeed

gender gap

differences btwn women and men, esp as reflected in social, political, intellectual, cultural, economic attainments or attitudes

stereotype threat

idea that when African American students believe they are being judged not as individuals but as members of a negatively stereotyped social group, they will do worse on tests

local knowledge

knowledge of a local community, possessed by individuals who spend long periods of their lives in it

mass media

forms of communication, ie newspapers, magazines, radio, tv, etc. designed to reach mass audiences

communication

transmission of info from one individual or group to another; necessary basis of all social interaction

public sphere

means by which ppl communicate in modern societies, most prominent component of which is mass media

global village

notion associated with Marshall McLuhan, who believed that world has become like a small community as a result of spread of electronic communication

hyperreality

idea associated with Jean Baudrillard, who argued that as a result of spread of electronic communication, there is no longer a separate "reality

mediated interaction

interaction btwn individuals who are not physically in one another's presence (ie phone conversation)

mediated quasi-interaction

interaction that is one-sided and partial (ie person watching a tv program)

world information order

global system of communication operating through satellite links, radio, TV transmission, and phone and computer links

cyberspace

electronic networks of interaction btwn individuals at different computer terminals

information poverty

the "information poor" are those ppl who have little or no access to information technology, such as computers