The Sociology of Education in Developing Countries

Abstract

For the sociologist of education whose work is normally confined to the study of education systems in the industrial west, entry into the sociology of education of developing societies is entry into a strange and troubled intellectual landscape. Perhaps most striking to the new entrant is the sight of the decaying remains of a once great and magnificent civilisation, structural functionalism. But perhaps equally surprising is the number of inhabitants who appear to be living happily and thriving amidst the decay-many of them apparently oblivious to the ruins that surround them; ruins that seem so obvious to the foreigner's eye. But outside of these eerie cities, which still sometimes seem to echo with the sounds of past glories, are the jungles and mountains where the rule of law is barely maintained. It is here where the rival bands of guerillas and partisans (neo-Marxists of various shades and varieties) are to be found. Their banners and slogans announce their common opposition to the dominance of the city dwellers but much time and energy appears to be expended in inter-band rivalries and political infighting. In the higher valleys the provisional government of the main opposition party (advocates of the dependency perspective) have set up their headquarters. And from these lofty peaks the country below looks very different. Up here communications are poor, roads often impassable, and frequent rock falls and the constant erosion of high winds make travelling treacherous and setting up anything but the most temporary campsite is a most hazardous enterprise. I have chosen to review studies which represent the different sociological approaches to the study of education in developing societies. These studies, in different degrees, highlight the existing weaknesses and partiality of sociological work in this field. I shall proceed by identifying the studies reviewed with the major theoretical traditions and recent theoretical progress in the general area of development studies. The major contours of the sociology of education landscape, as far as the developing 'Third World' is concerned, are determined and can only be understood sensibly in terms of the two opposed and entrenched theoretical paradigms of modernisation and dependency. While, as I shall argue, not all work done by sociologists of education can be neatly or realistically subsumed within these two paradigm positions, they do constitute fixed points of reference. But these paradigms do not