In contemporary societies, schools play an important role in reproducing the social system. Those who want to maintain the status quo find social reproduction desirable, while more radical scholars are critical regarding the social inequality and injustice perpetuated through this reproduction process. Traditionally, schools and families have…

Suggests that schools differentially socialize children to respond to authority so as to be competent in adult work roles similar to those currently held by their parents. (Author/AM)

Radical educational change cannot take place in isolation from societal change. American schools see themselves as agents of the society, charged with transmitting the values and behaviors considered central to the maintenance of society. Critics of this functional view of socialization suggest schools should be instruments of radical change.…