<P> The sociology of education is the study of how public institutions and individual experiences affect education and its outcomes . It is mostly concerned with the public schooling systems of modern industrial societies, including the expansion of higher, further, adult, and continuing education . </P> <P> Education has often been very much so seen as a fundamentally optimistic human endeavour characterised by aspirations for progress and betterment . It is understood by many to be a means of overcoming handicaps, achieving greater equality, and acquiring wealth and social status . Education is perceived as a place where children can develop according to their unique needs and potential . It is also perceived as one of the best means of achieving greater social equality . Many would say that the purpose of education should be to develop every individual to their full potential, and give them a chance to achieve as much in life as their natural abilities allow (meritocracy). Few would argue that any education system accomplishes this goal perfectly . Some take a particularly critical view, arguing that the education system is designed with the intention of causing the social reproduction of inequality . </P> <P> Systematic sociology of education began with the work of Émile Durkheim (1858--1917) on moral education as a basis for organic solidarity, and with studies by Max Weber (1864--1920) on the Chinese literati as an instrument of political control . After World War II, however, the subject received renewed interest around the world: from technological functionalism in the US, egalitarian reform of opportunity in Europe, and human - capital theory in economics . These all implied that, with industrialization, the need for a technologically skilled labour force undermines class distinctions and other ascriptive systems of stratification, and that education promotes social mobility . However, statistical and field research across numerous societies showed a persistent link between an individual's social class and achievement, and suggested that education could only achieve limited social mobility . Sociological studies showed how schooling patterns reflected, rather than challenged, class stratification and racial and sexual discrimination . After the general collapse of functionalism from the late 1960s onwards, the idea of education as an unmitigated good was even more profoundly challenged . Neo-Marxists argued that school education simply produced a docile labour force essential to late - capitalist class relations . </P> <P> The sociology of education contains a number of theories . Some of the main theories are presented below . </P>

Who defined sociology of education as a study of the relation between education and society