LEARNING OBJECTIVES

As you read Chapter 13, use these learning objectives to organize your notes. After completing your reading, you should be able to answer each of the objectives.

1. Summarize the development of modern education, and discuss the links between democracy, industrialization, and universal education. (342–343)

2. Compare the education systems of Japan, Russia, and Egypt, and talk about how they represent the differences in education between Most Industrialized, Industrializing, and Least Industrialized Nations. (343–346)

3. From the functionalist perspective, identify and evaluate the manifest and latent functions of education. (346–348)

4. From the conflict perspective, explain and discuss the different ways in which the education system reinforces basic social inequalities. (348–350)

5. From the symbolic interactionist perspective, cite the research into the effects of teachers’ expectations on students’ performances, and discuss the implications. (350–351)

6. Identify the major problems that exist within the U.S. educational system, and evaluate some of the potential solutions. (351–354)

7. Define religion, and explain its essential elements. (354–355)

8. Describe the functions and dysfunctions of religion from the functionalist perspective. (355–356)

9. Apply the symbolic interactionist perspective to religious symbols, rituals, and beliefs, and discuss how each of these helps to establish and/or maintain communities of like-minded people. (356–359)

10. From the conflict perspective, discuss how religion supports the status quo, as well as reflecting, reinforcing, and legitimating social inequality. (359–360)

11. Summarize Max Weber’s analysis of religion and the spirit of capitalism, and explain its significance. (360–361)

12. Define cult, sect, church, and ecclesia, and describe the process by which some groups move from one category to another. (361–362)

13. Know how religious membership in the United States varies by region, social class, age, and race and ethnicity. (362–364)

14. Describe and discuss the major features of religious groups in the United States. (364–366)

15. Define secularization, and distinguish between the secularization of religion and the secularization of culture. (366–367)

16. Explain what accounts for the fundamental significance of religion in people’s lives and why, in all likelihood, religion will remain a permanent fixture in human society. (367)