German Youth: Bond or Free: International Library of Sociology K: The Sociology of Youth and... Book

In the first volume of several, Bernstein compiles his essays, analyzing the relationship between linguistic codes and social class. He offers that this correlation affects a child's educability.

I admittedly struggled with this book, my first attempt at reading a conceptual framework of this kind. While that is not a fault of the author whatsoever, its density lessened my enjoyment. Nevertheless, the organization of the volume was immensely helpful. With repetition of entire chunks of essays placed among different experiments or arguments, I began to understand Bernstein's theory and definitely agree with the idea that schools operate in a kind of language that undermines the potential of working-class children.