Olive Banks' study of the sharp contrasts of "parity and prestige" in English secondary education was published when sociological study of education was only beginning in Britain. It fitted neatly into that study's preoccupation with the interactions of social class, educational opportunity and social mobility. This paper is not an…

Reviews recent publications concerning the sociology of education and examines the adequacy of different approaches to social change and continuity in education and society. Works reviewed include writings by sociologists Durkheim and M. S. Archer and by social historians P. McCann and R. Johnson. (KC)