Until the end of the 1960s it was generally agreed that ‘functionalism’ provided the most appropriate framework for the sociological study of education. As noted in the previous chapter the positivist characteristics of this kind of educational theory are clearly visible in its view of social reality as a self-regulating mechanism and in its concern to provide value-neutral explanations. A positivist orientation is also clearly evident in the functionalist image of human behaviour as something that is determined by impersonal laws that operate beyond the individual’s control.