This book examines the concepts of equality, class, culture, work and leisure and explores their interrelationship through the discussion of some current problems, especially the problems posed for schools for the ‘culturally deprived.’ The debate about differential provision of schooling for different social groups is taken up through examination of the assumption that schools are middle-class institutions, and the claims and counter claims about the possibility of there being a common culture as the basis for a common curriculum in comprehensive schools. The concept of culture and, especially the meaning of working-class culture receives examination in this context as well as the thesis that any sub-culture constitutes an adequate or valid way of life.

This book examines the concepts of equality, class, culture, work and leisure and explores their interrelationship through the discussion of some current problems, especially the problems posed for schools for the 'culturally deprived.' The debate about differential provision of schooling for different social groups is taken up through examination of the assumption that schools are middle-class institutions, and the claims and counter claims about the possibility of there being a common culture as the basis for a common curriculum in comprehensive schools. The concept of culture and, especially the meaning of working-class culture receives examination in this context as well as the thesis that any sub-culture constitutes an adequate or valid way of life.

The subject matter of this book – what happens in schools, the effects of curriculum change, the reasons why some children are successful and others are not – explains just why the sociology of education is one of the most important areas to achieve political importance. There are five sections to the book covering: Educational Achievement; Educational Provision; The Organization of the School; Roles in the School and Values and Learning. The editor discusses the implications of the material presented (much of which was available for the first time when this book was originally published).

What unites the contributors to this book is an opposition to Thatcherite policies on education and an agreement upon the need for the development of democracy in education. This volume highlights the importance of an area of neglected theoretical and practical concern: the development of a critique of the philosophy and policies of the new Right, and of credible alternative policies.

One problem which continues to absorb social scientists is the way in which so much social deprivation stems from racial or class status. The discussion in this book is developed in two ways: firstly, careful attention is given to an examination of the way minority groups create and maintain collective identities and action. Secondly, the relationship between this movement and such topics as racism in schools, schooling, unemployment and West Indian involvement in sporting rather than academic activities is analysed, together with the nature of the educational experience of different class and gender groups.

The editors have compiled this critical and comparative study of changes which took place in the New Zealand education system in the second half of the twentieth century. For other Western societies who have felt the impact of New Right policies the New Zealand case is interesting because it provides some indication of how policies of decentralization in education might be used to develop egalitarian and democratic educational policies. In recent years there have been major changes to educational systems in the Western world. Often these changes have been justified by reference to successful educational practices in other countries. However, it is not always possible simply to abstract educational practices from one context and apply them in another successfully. Moreover claims that policies in one country are more successful than those in another have to be treated cautiously: there are always problems in making valid comparisons between the educational performances of different countries. It is important, therefore, that critical and comparative studies are made of educational systems which take full account of the contexts in which they are embedded.