An Alternative Culture for Teaching

Abstract

Introduction:  During the 1970s the sociology of education in Britain was dominated by the work of Basil Bernstein.  This paper was written at the time when Bernstein's interests were moving from the sociology of language (and particularly the much publicized debate over the notions of 'restricted' and 'elaborated' codes), back to his prior concerns with questions of schooling and curriculum.  It is important to emphasize that, in this shift in topics and perspectives, the central ideas remained fairly constant.  Essentially these relate to the connections between language use and culture, culture and identity and derive from the writings of Benjamin Whorf.