Knowledge and Pedagogy: The Sociology of Basil Bernstein

Editor: Alan R. Sadovnik, Adelphi University

For more than three decades, Basil Bernstein has been one of the centrally important and
controversial sociologists, whose work has influenced a generation of sociologists of education and linguists. From his early works on language, communication codes, and schooling, to his work on pedagogic discourse, practice, and educational transmissions, Bernstein has attempted to produce a theory of social and educational codes and their
effect on social reproduction. Although structuralist in its approach, Bernstein's sociology has drawn on the essential theoretical orientations, Durkheimian, Weberian, Marxists, and interactionists, and provides the possibility of an important synthesis.

Bernstein's work is acknowledged internationally as among the finest attempts to construct a systematic theory of school and society; one that provides the basis for connecting the macro and micro levels of sociological analysis. It has also been the subject of considerable criticism and misunderstanding. Nonetheless, even his severest
critics would acknowledge his significant role in the development of the sociology of education.

This volume is thematically organized around the major concerns of Bernstein's work and includes chapters from leading sociologists, linguists, and educational scholars. Each section provides a critical evaluation of Bernstein's work in the area under examination. The book provides a critical analysis of Bernstein's sociology, frames his sociology of education within the larger context of social theory, and discusses its effect on sociological and educational research.

Pricing

Published 1995; 458 pages;