Emile Durkheim’s engagement with education has been a long one. But it was only during his time in the universities of Bordeaux and Paris that his engagement with education both as theory and practice as part of sociology begun. In 1887, Faculté des Lettres, a special position was created for him at Bordeaux, where he was the head of social sciences and pedagogy until 1902.
Durkheim has written vastly on education and is often seen as a pioneer in sociology of education. His writings on education such as, Education and Sociology (1922), Moral Education (1925) published posthumously, stand testimony to this fact. In addition to this Durkheim also emphasized the importance of education in his other writings as well such as, The Division of Labour in Society (1893), The Rules of Sociological Method (1895) and Suicide (1897).
This paper seeks to understand education using Durkheim’s sociological ideas and constructs to comprehend the association between education and sociology. This paper studies the different treatments education has received under Durkheim’s sociological framework. It specifically outlines the following:
i. Education as tool for socialization ii. Education as a social fact, and iii. The relationship between education and morality, as explained by Durkheim.
To understand nature of the educational system in a society, one needs to look into the socio-historical setting of that society. Ottaway writes, “system of education can be seen to depend on social