Tribute to Basil Bernstein, 1924-2000

Abstract

Professor Bernstein was one of the leading sociologists in the world, whose pioneering work over the past four decades illuminated our understanding of the relationship among political economy, family, language and schooling. Although committed to equity and social justice, or in his own words, `preventing the wastage of working class educational potential' (1961b, p. 308), his work was often misunderstood and incorrectly labelled a form of `cultural deficit' theory. From his early works on language, communication codes and schooling, to his later works on pedagogic discourse, practice and educational transmissions, Bernstein produced a theory of social and educational codes and their effect on social reproduction. Although structuralist in its approach, Bernstein's sociology drew on the essential theoretical orientations in the field-Durkheimian, Weberian, Marxist, and interactionist-and provided the possibility of an important synthesis. Primarily, however, he viewed his work as most heavily influenced by Durkheim. Beginning with the third volume of Class, codes and control(1977a), Bernstein developed code theory from its sociolinguistic roots to examine the connection between communication codes and pedagogic discourse and practice.