In this study, first published in 1985, the author explores the construction of educational ideologies and assesses to what extent they are put into practice by the teachers. He examines the ‘politics’ of education within the school; the extent to which the head teacher, as the bureaucratic authority in the school, seeks to impose his or her own views and the degree to which teachers see themselves as possessing professional autonomy. The study also pays attention to status differentiation within the education of the working class and explores the educational consequences of ethnic and gender status group membership. This title will be of interest to sociology and education.