Although the different contributions to this book range over a wide spectrum of substantive issues, they share a common interest. This is a concern to explore the ways in which notions of the relations between theory and practice, between belief and action, can be used to develop three kinds of sensitivity in the sociology of education. A sensitivity towards how school systems are created, maintained and made to function; towards developing a more refined, critical and constructive awareness of the reliability and validity of descriptions, analyses and explanations offered in this field of study; and a sensitivity towards the ways in which changes take place within the education system and how the insights and realisations generated in the discipline might be used to control such occurrences.

Parents soon find out that young children are natural learners. They are like explorers or research scientists busily gathering information and making meaning out of the world. This volume looks at the process of natural learning and how it can be hindered or halted by insensitive adult interference.

Intended to stimulate sociologically informed thinking about educating, this book has become firmly established in its field, winning places on reading lists for Education Studies, Initial Teacher Training and Continuing Professional Development courses. The book begins with a light-hearted taste of sociology, and then goes on to explorefive key areas of education: - the hidden curriculum - ideologies of educating - sociological perspectives and the study of education - educational life chances, and - the next learning system. This new edition includes sections on personalized learning, progressive education, and the impact of assessment on pupils. It also comes with a new chapter The Discourses of Education. Roland Meighan is a former Special Professor of Education, University of Nottingham, UKand Senior Lecturer, University of Birmingham, UK. Clive Harber is Professor of Education and Head of the School of Education, University of Birmingham, UK. He brings with him expertise in the field of International Education and Educational Development With contributions by Len Barton and Iram Siraj-Blatchford, both of the Institute of Education, University of London; and Stephen Walker, Reader in the Sociology of Education and Visiting Professor in the Science of Education, University of Bari.

Although the different contributions to this book range over a wide spectrum of substantive issues, they share a common interest. This is a concern to explore the ways in which notions of the relations between theory and practice, between belief and action, can be used to develop three kinds of sensitivity in the sociology of education. A sensitivity towards how school systems are created, maintained and made to function; towards developing a more refined, critical and constructive awareness of the reliability and validity of descriptions, analyses and explanations offered in this field of study; and a sensitivity towards the ways in which changes take place within the education system and how the insights and realisations generated in the discipline might be used to control such occurrences.

John Holt is indisputably a major thinker in education. Roland Meighan's volume offers the most coherent account of Holt's educational thought. This work is divided into: intellectual biography; critical exposition of Holt's work; and the reception and influence of Holt's work and the relevance of the work today.This is a major international reference series providing comprehensive accounts of the work of seminal educational thinkers from a variety of periods, disciplines and traditions. It is the most ambitious and prestigious such project ever published - a definitive resource for at least a generation. The thinkers include: Aquinas, Aristotle, Bourdieu, Bruner, Dewey, Foucault, Freire, Holt, Kant, Locke, Montessori, Neill, Newman, Owen, Peters, Piaget, Plato, Rousseau, Steiner, Vygotsky, West, and Wollstonecraft.

Intended to stimulate sociologically informed thinking about educating, this book has become firmly established in its field, winning places on reading lists for Education Studies, Initial Teacher Training and Continuing Professional Development courses. The book begins with a light-hearted taste of sociology, and then goes on to explore five key areas of education such as: the hidden curriculum; ideologies of educating; sociological perspectives and the study of education; educational life chances; and, the next learning system. This new edition includes sections on personalized learning, progressive education, and the impact of assessment on pupils. It also comes with a new chapter 'The Discourses of Education'.