Sociology of education: a critical history and prospects for the future

Abstract

This paper examines the sociology of education from the perspective of its recent history and attempts to assess the current state of the field. The authors argue that cognate disciplines such as economics and social policy have taken over some of the key questions that were once the preserve of sociology of education. This raises the question of what is lost if the sociology of education is no longer making a significant contribution, in key areas, to the major educational, social and economic issues of the day.

Acknowledgements

Our thanks to Michael Young, Geoff Whitty and Roger Dale.

Notes

1. This history begins in the 1950s and therefore excludes developments prior to this (Floud & Halsey, 1958). It can be argued that it is from this period that the main currents in the sociology of education which have brought us to the present situation began. Perhaps our most notable omission is the work of Mannheim. See, however, the criticisms of Mannheim by Floud & Halsey (2008)in their historical review of the discipline.

2. There were others, such as Basil Bernstein, who were also at LSE at the time and whose research took them in a different direction, a thread we shall pick up later in the paper.

3. See their research project on European Policy Making, especially on indicators of performance at http://www.ces.ed.ac.uk/research/areas/research_areas.htm.