Educating society: Sociological debates and dilemmas

Abstract

The bell rings and the students run out of the classroom for lunch, spreading in all directions across the vast grounds of this semi-rural school on the outskirts of a large Australian city. Many of the kids take the bus to school, a long journey that passes through vineyards and farm lands, collecting students from across the coastal towns. Their parents tend to work in healthcare, tourism or the construction industry; and they see themselves and their community as being separate to the big city that’s just over an hour away.