Originally written at a time of crisis in the education system of Britain – occasioned by cuts, contradictions and change - many of the issues discussed in this book are still relevant today. Debate in the book focuses upon an examination of the nature of the crisis, an exploration of the impact of the crisis upon school processes and upon the relationship between life in school and in the wider community, an investigation of the responses being made by pupils, teachers and educationalists to the day-to-day manifestations of the crisis and a consideration of how the current crisis is giving a particular poignancy to issues to do with the theories and methods employed in our study and interpretation of contemporary educational processes.

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).

This book explores the complex social assumptions and values that underlie research programmes about schools. The analysis of educational research draws upon American and European scholarships in the sociology of knowledge, social philosophy and the history and sociology of science. The discussion considers first the communal, crafts and social characteristics of educational research. Three research models empirical-analytic, symbolic or linguistic and critical sciences are given attention. The discussion of the three research models is to illuminate how the constellation of commitments, assumptions and practices inter-relate to perform a paradigm giving different and conflicting definitions to the meaning of educational theory and to the use of the particular techniques of enquiry. The social role of educational research and the researcher is also considered.

In recent years, the issue of race in education in the UK have been submerged in wider discourses of diversity, leading to an invisibility of the quotidian experiences of marginalised peoples in educational institutions. Race, Education and Educational Leadership in England looks at how the experiences of black and ethnic minority (BME) students and academics in education has changed and investigates how the implementation of current policies on race equality are being monitored by the government. The contributors take an integrated approach, looking at issues and themes that occur across all educational phases in England and draw on expertise from within and outside the education system. The editors highlight areas of weakness and good practice in access, curriculum, progression and the lived experience. This book makes a compelling argument for why race equality matters in England's education system.

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.

This book presents a series of research biographies based on research experiences in the study of educational settings. The main aim is to provide a set of first person accounts on doing research that combine analysis with description. The contributors have been drawn from the disciplines of sociology and educational studies and have all conducted ethnographic work or case studies in a variety of educational settings.

Each of the books in this series examines factors which prevent positive learning taking place, evaluates practice which enhances learning and describes the multi-dimensional phenomenon of disaffection. It also looks at the broader social and political context and post-compulsory education.