ABSTRACT
The issues which have been identified and dealt with in the separate chapters of this book each provide insights into the social functions of our modern system of education. But it is only through recognition of their interconnectedness that we can begin to approach understandings of the complex web of relationships through which the education system links to the wider processes of social change. Developments in social class formation, in suburbanisation and housing policy, in the ethnic composition of society, in gender relations and in patterns of employment, were inextricably interrelated and all-pervading; there was no aspect of life in modern Britain that was not touched by them. These changes became potentially destabilising during the period under review, threatening at times to lead to major social disruption and endangering the smooth transformation of the economy. That these changes were able to take place without major social or political unrest was in large part explicable by reference to the role of the education system. It is in this sense that we can conclude that, between 1964 and 1990, schools and colleges played an important part in determining and shaping the dynamics of social and economic change. As British society ‘modernised’ during these years (in the sense that it underwent the social and economic changes necessary for participation in the new global economy which was emerging), it also retained many of its underlying characteristics, not least its strong sense of social hierarchy, with only limited opportunities for movement between social classes, even though the bases of social class were themselves undergoing subtle but perceptible change. That all this was accomplished without major social disturbance was due in large part to the mediating role of the education system.
