Chapter 1 introduces students to the basic analytic vocabulary, or "tools of inquiry," used throughout School and Society, emphasizing why social context is important to consider if we want to understand schooling. The chapter challenges the common view that theory and practice are opposites, arguing instead that good social theory seeks to describe and explain the real world, including the world of practice. It also presents the three-part analytic framework, or organizing ideas, used throughout the book, in which the terms "political economy," "ideology," and "schooling" are understood as social phenomena that influence one another. To illustrate how the analytic framework can be used to interpret the way school and society relate to each other, a brief sketch of classical Athens is presented. The example raises the question of why teachers need to study the history, philosophy, and social context of education—and how such study applies to teaching practice. Finally, the special relationship between democratic values and educational practice is introduced—a relationship that will be explored throughout the volume.