Weberian Perspectives and the Study of Education

Bibliographic Data

ID5813764
AuthorsRonald King (University of Exeter, corresponding author)
Year1980
Volume1
Issue1
Pages7-23
Publication date1980-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Sociology of Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0142-5692 • E-ISSN: 1465-3346
PublisherTaylor & Francis (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/0142569800010102
OpenAlexW1971825603
LanguageEN
Citations received13
References cited49

Weber has received less recognition in the sociology of education than that of either Marx or Durkheim. None of them wrote extensively about education, and although mention will made made of Weber's treatment of bureaucracy in education and his study of the education of the Chinese literati, the main purpose of this article is to consider his sociology in relation to recent sociology of education. In doing so the various elements of his approach will be introduced, including social action, power, authority and bureaucracy, class, status and party, ideology, and the necessity for value-freedom, but without extensive discussions of their general importance. The arguments for the use of neo-Weberian perspectives in sociology in general have been made most persuasively by Collins [1]. Instead, they will be compared with other approaches used in the sociological study of education, and examples will be given of the use of neo-Weberian methods in this field, together with suggestions for their further application. Three related general themes run through this commentary. Almost a decade after the introduction of the 'new' sociology of education discussion is moving towards a central issue in sociology; the relationship between micro and macro social processes [2]. How do classroom events relate to social, political and economic structures? The phenomenological element of the new sociology of education has been mainly concerned with the former; the functionalist element of the so-called 'orthodox' sociology of education and the Marxist element in the new, stress the latter. It is suggested that there are limitations to the kinds of explanations afforded by these approaches, and that the study of education using the methods of Weber enables explanations to be made which combine the voluntarism of phenomenology and its important stress on the subjective meaning of social action, with the structural constraints on social action which are emphasised in functionalism and some kinds of Marxism. This is possible since Weberian concepts may be applied at all levels of scale and complexity. This does not mean that any kind of simple solution can be suggested to resolve the under-determined/over-determined debate about the nature of mass education in modern industrial societies. However, drawing on a number of sources, not all overtly Weberian but which have some methodological compatability, it is suggested that education must be granted a

Epistemology · Social science · Sociology · Sociology of Education · Educational Theory and Curriculum Studies · Educator Training and Historical Pedagogy · Gender Studies · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Philosophy

Tools

Open DOISci-Hub