11–12Society and Culture 11–12 Syllabus (2026)

Individuals: Each person is a unique individual who develops in social, cultural and environmental settings where they are influenced by and interact with other individuals and groups. Ways in which individuals interact include communication, the sharing of values and beliefs, and cooperation. The identity of an individual is the result of interactions at the micro, meso and macro levels of society.

Society: Society is made up of individuals, groups, networks, institutions, organisations and systems with common local, national, regional and international patterns of relationships and organisation. Every society contains micro, meso and macro levels. Society can be understood as socially constructed.

Culture: Culture refers to the shared knowledge, attitudes and behaviours that constitute a people’s way of life. Culture is demonstrated through the beliefs, customs, values, norms, rules, laws, governance, arts, technology and artefacts that people generate. These are then used to interpret or derive identity and meaning from their world and to solve present and future problems. While culture is continuous, it is also dynamic and undergoes change.

Identity: Identity refers to the sense of self, and can be viewed from personal, social and cultural perspectives. Identity is formed over a period of time, as the result of interactions at the micro, meso and macro levels of society. Contributing factors to identity may include ancestry, family, gender, beliefs and status. An identity has dimensions or layers that create a sense of difference or inclusion in a group or culture.

Environment: Each society is located in and interacts with a particular physical setting. The values that people hold in regard to their physical environment affect a variety of interactions. Culture is generated from interaction with the immediate environment. Different locations and their environments, including urban, rural, coastal, inland and isolated, present societies and their cultures with both opportunities and constraints.

Power: The ability or capacity to influence or persuade others to a point of view or action with which they may not agree is known as power. Types of power include social power, economic power and political power. It can be unevenly distributed in a society and may be contested. Power can be found in everyday encounters as well as in formal governance. It exists within institutions and social contexts and relationships, where individuals or groups coerce or exert influence over one another.

Authority: Legitimated power is known as authority. Authority can be informal, shown in longstanding social and cultural practices or in the respect awarded to individuals in micro- or meso-level groups, or it can be formal, exercised through macro-level institutions, such as a parliament or court. Authority is the right to make decisions and to determine or settle issues and disputes in society. The use of authority is important in the process of decision-making and in initiating change and maintaining continuity.

Continuity and change: Individuals, societies, cultures and environments exist in a time and are changed over time. Continuity is evident in the maintenance of cultural elements in a society across time, and through the maintenance of traditions and social structures that bring stability to a society. Change is evident in the alteration of social and cultural elements in a society. Change in society occurs at the micro, meso and macro levels and is brought about by a range of processes, including the influence of worldviews or technological innovations. Perceptions of continuity and change are drawn from past events, and influence ideas of the present and predictions about the future.