An Account of the Sociology of Education: I

Abstract

THUS far, therefore, I have concentrated upon explaining the relationship between the origins of sociological enquiry in the field of education and the diverse elements of that sociological theory that have been deemed relevant. I have shown how the interpenetrations by political and educational ideologies of sociological research in the field of education can be seen as bringing about not so much a legitimation of existing practices as a challenge to them. The emergence of the twin objectives of economic efficiency and social justice represented an implicit critique of the educational arrangements by which talent was manifestly ‘wasted’. It is true, of course, that if the advocated educational reform had been fully and efficiently implemented, there would not have been a revolutionary transformation of the basis of the society such as might be urged by some contemporary authors. This, however, was not how the critics of, say the 1940s and 1950s, saw the issue. For them, given the relationship which existed between social class and educational opportunity and the dominance of the kinds of sociological theory that I have described, it seemed clear that they were engaged in pursuing policies which would lead to a richer and more socially just society in which certain major forms of privilege would be diminished.