This new book is a wide-ranging, contemporary and accessible analysis of familiar and recurring myths about mass education in the United Kingdom. Looking at a variety of important issues and problems, each chapter begins by dispelling myths and assumptions about the classroom, going beyond class, race and gender, to offer analysis of topics such as discipline, youth cultures, information technology and globalisation. Utilising an interdisciplinary lens, this book offers knowledge from disciplines as diverse as sociology, philosophy, jurisprudence and cultural studies. Gordon Tait examines the strengths and weaknesses of different theoretical approaches to education, from critical theory to postmodernism, and Foucaultian governance to post-colonialism. Analysing the many assumptions about education taken for granted in British public discourse, important conclusions are drawn about which of these assumptions are fair and reasonable, and which we should challenge. This book is an essential resource for advanced undergraduate and postgraduate courses on the sociology of education, culture and education, and the philosophy of education.

'Professor Tait sets an ambitious agenda for Schooling and Society: Myths of Mass Education. The result is a ready reckoner of the myths that form the overall illusion of modern schooling. His forensic exposition of these myths, provides a genuine opportunity for the reform of both teacher education and of schooling itself. I hope people take up Tait's counsel.' Roger Slee, School of Education, University of South Australia
'This book is a really great resource for undergraduates studying sociology of education. Presenting myths and then debunking them in a clear and accessible writing style is exactly what many students need to develop a more sociological understanding of a phenomenon that they often take for granted.' Peter Hemming, Cardiff University

Gordon Tait is a Professor in the Faculty of Education at Queensland University of Technology. An award-winning teacher, he has taught sociology and philosophy for over thirty years, and has published books on education, sociology, cultural studies, philosophy and criminology.