Education, Social Link and Social Change: A Survey of Durkheim’s Pedagogical Works

Can Durkheim’s pedagogical works be compared in some way to his main writings or are they only minor works? Was Durkheim’s engagement in the study of educational theories and practices a sort of parallel life for him, simply juxtaposed to his sociological investigations for mere professional reasons, or is there some meaningful link between the sociological and pedagogical dimensions of his thought? Eventually, are his works relevant as a sociological contribution to pedagogical theories, or vice versa, is there something in Durkheim’s pedagogical texts that can throw some light on his own way of conceiving and explaining social realities? In this article, I will try to argue that (a) Durkheim’s pedagogical writings should not be separated from the rest of his works and that (b) there are reciprocal interactions on some definite questions between the pedagogical and the sociological sides of his works. If the first point seems quite obvious, the second one deserves some attention, especially if one tries to defend the stronger thesis, that is, that Durkheim’s writings about education are relevant not only for the history of pedagogical theories but also for the theoretical background of his sociology, not in a generic way.