Sociology of education

Sociology of education asks a simple question with big consequences: how does society shape schooling, and how does schooling shape society? A functionalist sees the school as the organ that keeps society running — teaching shared norms and sorting people into roles. A conflict theorist sees the same school and asks who benefits from that sorting. Worked example: when children of different castes or classes sit in the same classroom but get very different results, sociology asks whether the school is equalising opportunity or reproducing inequality.