Schools and society

by Jeanne H. Ballantine (Editor)

A comprehensive overview using an open systems approach

Schools and A Sociological Approach to Education, Third Edition , now published by Pine Forge Press, features original readings and article excerpts by leaders in the area of Sociology of Education. With a wide array of theoretical perspectives, a broad range of respected sources, and inclusion of both classic and contemporary studies, this comprehensive, integrated text addresses key issues in the field with a balanced presentation. Edited by Jeanne H. Ballantine and Joan Z. Spade, both of whom actively teach Sociology of Education courses, this text continues to offer theory, methods, and classical and current issues organized around the theme of the open systems approach to make both the pedagogy and presentation of material coherent for students. Thus, the book is not just a collection of articles but a presentation of a holistic view of educational systems.

New to the Third Edition
Instructor Resources on CD are available to qualified instructors by contacting info@sagepub.com. These include class exercises, suggestions for videos, and other teaching tips.

Intended Audience
Used either alone or as a supplement, this integrated overview of Sociology of Education is geared toward upper-level undergraduate courses in Sociology of Education, Foundations of Education, Social Contexts of Education or related courses in departments of sociology and education.

Contributor to the SAGE/Pine Forge ASA Teaching Innovations & Professional Development Awards Fund

Genres: Education, Sociology, Nonfiction, Read For School

576 pages

First published August 30, 2000

Reviews

[Piper · Rating 3 out of 5]

man. we live in a society.

[Caleb Anderson · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I will not comment on the sociological discrepancies other reviews mention about this book, my review will focus on the implementation of theory into a person pursuing school administrator licensure. In my graduate course, this was the primary textbook for our sociology of education course. The format of the text follows is laid out in chapters with various numbers of readings per chapter. Chapters will vary on numerous sociological topics that surround education. So why read it? Where an undergraduate program in education may start talking about various issues of educational sociology, you most likely will encounter the depth of the topic at a graduate level. This is an introductory text that will pave the way to dive deeper into specific issues. This text most likely will be paired with various external research that you or your professor will supplement to fill in the gaps. I personally gave this text three stars because of the bias presented by the editors. You will find that most Readings are just portions of entire research. This creates a bias in that the editors took the liberty to put in what they wanted to say, which may not be how the researchers intended it. While bias may be present, the value of the text is found in the numerous topics covered; even if it is just "scratching the surface."

(I used the 5th Edition; Some changes may be present in the 6th)

[Haley · Rating 2 out of 5]

Had to read this book for a sociology class.

It’s just a textbook that is compiled of writings from other authors.

[scott · Rating 2 out of 5]

So far this book seems to be somewhat tilted toward the views of Marx and Weber, infusing race and gender inequalities into traditional class distinctions. Perhaps a balance will be struck with capatialist sociology of education in the sections covering functionalism. The entire work appears to have the usual short comings of post-positivist social sciences.

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was pretty weak. Mostly a bunch of introductory explorations of topics - little rigorous research, detailed case studies, etc. Decent book for an undergrad sociology class, but not for a grad education class.