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Valuable developments in the Sociology of Education over the last 40 years have involved the widening and deepening of analytical perspectives to include not only class-based research in education but also the complex interactions of class, race and gender in all educational, social, economic and political contexts. From a sociology of knowledge perspective the field has become historically more mature and multi-­dimensional in its research and analysis of socio-educational contexts internationally. This paper argues that despite these progressive developments, one dimension is still largely ignored i.e. that of the religions of the world and of the social and cultural implications of these faiths for education today. Sociological analysis which elides a religious dimension not only presents an over-simplified view of social relations in the modern West but also fails to make an authentic engagement with education.

International research shows that the curricula of Catholic secondary schools are increasingly becoming dominated by the pressures of conforming to the requirements of nation states. These requirements are generally expressed in economic and utilitarian terms and evaluated by criteria of measurable outputs. As a result of these pressures, Catholic secondary schools are in danger of losing a distinctive religious and educational cultural programme expressed in a distinctive Catholic school curriculum. It is suggested in this article that a serious permeation of Catholic social teaching is crucial, not only for the intrinsic importance of its subject matter but also as a means to resist total cultural incorporation into state-mandated curricula. Particular attention is given to the educational potential contained in Pope Benedict XVI's encyclical, "Caritas in Veritate" (2009).

This article argues that faith-based schools are a necessary feature of democratic and pluralistic societies and a legitimate expression of human rights as constituted in the European Convention in Human Rights (2000). It further argues that if the rights of parents to have a real choice for faith-based schools (regardless of ability to pay) are to be actualised, then state funding for such schools is required. The article concludes by saying that current arguments that faith-based schools are generative of social or community conflict have no basis in existing empirical research. These arguments, when examined, are not evidence based but rather based upon polemical and prejudiced assertions which give a superficial reading of the causes of community conflict, as in the case of Northern Ireland.

This paper argues that the professional development and in-service educational needs of faith school leaders have been neglected by mainstream providers of continuing professional development programmes in the United Kingdom. Given the substantial presence of Church of England and Roman Catholic schools and colleges in the UK system and current plans for an increased number of Muslim, Jewish and Christian Evangelical schools, some positive response is necessary. The distinctive needs of faith school leaders (Christian, Muslim and Jewish) require the provision of continuing professional development and in-service courses that look seriously at the specific challenges of faith school leadership in contemporary conditions. (Contains 11 notes.)

This paper is a reflection upon the research findings of Rebecca Allen and Anne West in relation to religious schools in London. While welcoming this contribution to the systematic study of faith schools (a neglected area of empirical inquiry), the paper argues that the use of "religious schools" as a unitary category is problematic for the analysis. It also suggests that certain historical and cultural contextual knowledge is required when analysing the characteristics of different categories of religious schools. This response is intended to be helpful for future researchers into the different types of faith school. (Contains 8 notes.)

Using the concepts of classification and framing and other relevant writings by Basil Bernstein, an attempt will be made to construct a theorised account of changes in the socio-political context of education in Britain; of the mode of governance in education and of the constructs and practice of educational leadership from the 1950s to the present day. These changes will be examined in three political-ideological periods in British educational history to show how Basil Bernstein's assertion that "pedagogic communication is a relay for patterns of dominance external to itself" ["The Structuring of Pedagogic Discourse," vol. IV, "Class, Codes and Control" (London: Routledge, 1990), 169] is mediated in each historical period by the classification and framing relationships existing in the nexus of state, economy and schooling. (Contains 46 footnotes.)

This paper attempts to provide some answers to two questions: What are the distinctive challenges of urban education (especially in London) and how can schools help to meet them? Using theoretical frameworks derived from the writings of two leading scholars of the urban, Manuel Castells and David Harvey, this paper argues that the challenges "in" urban education are especially manifest in inner-city communities and in inner-city schools and colleges. The challenges "for" urban education consist in trying to find effective, and above all, sustained ways of responding to those contradictions. (Contains 14 notes.)

This article argues that a problem for the contemporary sociology of education is that it has operated within a "secularisation of consciousness paradigm". This has limited both the depth and the scope of its intellectual enquiries. Sociological analysis which elides a religious dimension not only presents an over-simplified view of social relations in "the Modern West", but it also fails to make an authentic engagement with many socio-cultural and educational situations internationally, where God is far from dead. The article suggests various ways forward for a reorientation of sociological writing and research. (Contains 12 notes.)

Examines England's and Wales' problems with teacher supply, retention, and morale, outlining recent historical trends in teacher-state relations relevant to contemporary policy and the consequences of changing social and power relations. The paper reflects on the options available for a contemporary education policy informed by insights of critical scholarship. (SM)