This new textbook offers a wide-ranging discussion of the key debates within the sociology of education. Covering everything from policymaking and the curriculum, to class, ethnicity and gender, and the ways that they and other social divisions intersect to produce inequalities, this timely publication provides a much-needed contribution to the study of education’s vital role in contemporary society. With examples drawn from such diverse contexts as Australian pre-schools, Finnish higher education institutions and English further education colleges, the text presents students with an international perspective and encourages them to engage critically with some of the core questions that lie at the heart of the topic: what is the purpose of education? who decides what formal education entails? and what impact does education have on both society and individuals?

Rachel Brooks’s extensive knowledge of decades of scholarly work in education and sociology ensures the book is academically rigorous throughout, while the final chapter on emerging educational research means it is fully up to date. The text’s accessible style is ideally suited to all those new to the topic and studying the sociology of education for the first time, whether this be from departments of sociology, childhood studies, social policy, or a range of other social science disciplines.