This text undertakes a systematic sociological analysis of contemporary educational policy and practice. In doing so it charts the substantial and significant changes that education systems have undergone over recent decades, and places them within a broader context of social change. Thematically structured, the book brings together a diverse body of material from the sociology of education to provide a coherent and logical text. It takes a comprehensive approach, summarizing transformations that have occurred in educational policy, and addressing the consequences for institutions as well as for teachers, parents and learners. The author explores the complex and changing relationships between the state and the processes and practices of education. She also stresses the importance of educational experiences for the (re)production of collective and individual biographies. The result is an invaluable text for sociology and social policy students as well as for education professionals engaged in training or further study.