Sociology › Section P · Education › Topic P.2
Theoretical perspectives on education
Is school a ladder that lets talent rise, or a machine that keeps privilege in place? Sociology's main perspectives give different answers, and each points to real evidence about what schools do.
In this topic
- Four lenses on schooling
- Functionalism: manifest functions
- Functionalism: sorting and latent functions
- Conflict theory: reproducing inequality
- Hidden curriculum, tracking and testing
- Feminist theory
- Symbolic interactionism: labels and expectations
- Credentialism
- Worked example: a gifted programme
- Worked example: reading a classroom
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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