Making the Difference: 20 years on

Abstract

Making the Difference (Connell et al., 1982 ), a sociological study of Australian families and schools, generated considerable interest and some controversy when it was published in 1982. This essay revisits the way the book was reviewed at the time and considers its contribution two decades later. In the 1980s it provided a substantial account of the relevance and limitations of reproduction theory to Australian education and it was also seen internationally as an exceptionally insightful study of the class-based and gendered relationship between families and schools. Although the research agenda signalled by Making the Difference was subsequently disrupted by the rise of the New Right, it is argued that its theoretical and empirical concerns provided a foundation for recent work on the impact of postwelfarist education policy and in this sense it remains highly relevant to the sociology of education today. The book's policy stance, although not without problems, also anticipated some of today's debates about the best form of educational provision for diverse social groups. It is concluded that Making the Difference was not only seen as a remarkable account in its time but in important respects was well ahead of its time.