UNSW School of Education has a strong research program exploring the sociology of education. The Systems, Structures and Social Justice Research Community studies the role of education, broadly construed, in the creation, maintenance and/or disruption of social difference and inequality.
With a view of education through the prism of sociology, the research focuses on:
- The equitable operation of primary, secondary and higher education systems
- How educational institutions socialise young people within broader society
- The ways in which teachers’ work can operate to both reinforce and disrupt patterns of inequality
- Teachers as subject to, as well as constructing, social, cultural and political dynamics in education systems.
Research aims
The Systems, Structures and Social Justice Research Community engages with issues of inequitable provision and unequal outcomes across early childhood, school and higher education, as well as adult and other lifelong learning contexts. The community brings expertise in the analysis of power relations including issues of social class, race, gender and geographic inequalities. It's these shifting, yet enduring concerns with which the sociology of education research community engages.
Current projects
The Systems, Structures and Social Justice Research Community is a newly formed group so we’re yet to launch collective projects. However, ongoing activities include regular meetings (virtually and face-to-face post COVID-19) for sharing and progressing research activity with the view to develop collaborative research projects within and beyond the group.
In addition, within the group and extending outside of the school are a range of collaborative projects supporting the interests of the sociology of education community. Please see our staff member profiles listed below for further details on these projects and associated publications.