This new edition includes ten completely new chapters and a step-by-step guide to essay writing. There is also a companion website to accompany the book, featuring additional chapters which can be visited at www.routledge.com/cw/matheson.This fully updated, fourth edition provides: Written in a clear and accessible style, this is the essential core text for all beginning students on undergraduate and postgraduate courses in Education Studies and all those interested in education today, where it came from and where it is going.