ABSTRACT
This chapter opens with a vignette that illustrates some of the types of topics and questions sociology of education addresses. It then discusses key concepts and debates within the sociology of education, making links to both classic texts and current issues. It gives an overview of contemporary features of Australian education, such as access, equity and participation rates, school funding, standardised testing, educational and social inequalities, the role of schools in challenging and/or reproducing existing social relations, and curriculum and social values. It offers a case study of gender, sexuality, and education and connects national educational concerns to wider socio-cultural phenomena and globalised processes and patterns.
