How did critical sociology describe the role of schools in society?

Critical sociology, often associated with conflict sociology, challenges the functionalist view that schools serve as neutral mechanisms for selecting the most talented individuals for society’s needs. Instead, this perspective posits that education is a site of class conflict where dominant institutions exert power to maintain existing social hierarchies.1

Rather than promoting pure meritocracy, critical sociologists argue that schools often function to reproduce social inequality. For example, the work of Pierre Bourdieu highlights how individuals navigate social fields using their habitus—socially acquired dispositions—and cultural capital. In this view, schools reward the cultural knowledge and tastes of higher social classes, effectively disadvantaging those from different backgrounds and legitimating the status quo. By framing education as a tool of repression rather than a neutral ladder of opportunity, critical sociology emphasizes that institutional practices are not inherently objective but are shaped by the interests of powerful groups.12