The Social Organization of Schools

The sociology of education continues to thrive as a field of study. Researchers, particularly those interested in educational reform, have increasingly come to recognize the importance of understanding the social context of schooling and how it affects the actions and attitudes of those who are involved in it. Whether concerned with implementing a new mathematics curriculum or adopting legislation for teacher accountability, researchers are confronted with identifying the mechanisms that can stimulate and sustain change in individuals and institutions. To identify these mechanisms, investigators typically begin by developing deep conceptions of the social context and how it operates. Relying on theories and knowledge of social systems that are timeand place-dependent, sociologists of education continue to examine the conditions that drive changes in organizations, instruction, curricula, and learning. The fifteen chapters in this volume describe how the social context of education is defined and functions today and spell out the implications of these conceptions for school reform, standards, and teacher and student accountability. The authors in this volume forge explicit links between social context and mechanisms for change in the social structure of classrooms and schools and the consequences of those links for instruction and student learning. Several of the chapters include empirical analyses that draw on new or existing datasets; others are extended essays that highlight developments in organization theory, teacher professionalism, and social norms and the socialization of children in schools. The chapters are organized into four thematic parts: the relationship between sociology and the study of education, teaching as a profession, the microsociology of schools and classrooms, and change in social organizations. In linking the past with the present, the authors were asked to address variations on the following questions: How has organization theory influenced the study of schools as social organizations? What properties characterize the social organization of schools? What types of experiences shape teachers and distinguish them from other professionals? How can the teaching profession become more professional? How are values and normative commitments formed, and how do they influence teacher and student actions? How do interpersonal relationships among students, teachers, and parents affect organizational learning in schools and students’ cognitive and