ABSTRACT
British sociology of education over the last fifty years has largely concerned itself with the relationship between the education system and social disadvantage (Whitty 2001). Throughout this time, the middle class has had a shadowy and unsatisfactory presence. It hovers in the background – rarely the focus of the investigation, but rather the background against which the perspectives and experiences of the working class have been contrasted (Power 2000). However, exploring the relationship between education and the middle class will not only provide more sophisticated understanding of diverse educational careers, institutions and orientations, it will also help us to have a better grasp of the significance of struggles over education. As Bernstein points out: ‘The middle class are specialists in the theory, practice and dissemination of symbolic control’ (1977: 192). Therefore, while examination of the relationship between education and the middle class may be partly justified in terms of a social policy agenda (Whitty 2001), it also merits greater prominence on a sociological agenda.
