ABSTRACT
The theoretical perspective in this chapter has developed against a background of what some might define as a paradigmatic crisis in the sociology of education. The sociology of education has emerged as a sub-area of specialization in sociology, relatively unaffected by major controversies within its parent discipline. Developing in specialized university institutes and schools of education, the study of education has tended to be preoccupied with the policy concerns of the practising educator. This trend has been reflected in the development of the sociology of education as an academic discipline. The structural functionalist approach, using a holistic model of the social system, has tended to analyse educational structures and processes in terms of their contribution to basic system requirements. On the other hand, however, the empiricist tradition has engaged in a series of fact finding and head counting missions, producing a great deal of statistical information. The ideal of perfect integration is projected on to empirical reality.
