ABSTRACT
Concrete processes of social interaction are what cross the boundary between education and society. Outside influences do not flow into the system by an equivalent of osmosis. This chapter discusses these transactions which make up educational politics and presents a model for their analysis. It shows the utility of some recent developments in sociological theory, in particular exchange theory and general systems theory. The chapter briefs four general strategies that are used/usable by any polity at any time in an attempt to increase its control over the educational system. For minority groups in particular, their failure in one kind of negotiation may produce general discouragement and mean that the profession has played a part in organising certain issues and problems out of educational politics. There are two important respects in which the different types of negotiation are related to one another in terms of interaction; one direct and the other indirect.
