from that taught a generation ago, but of greater importance is the
increasing salience of social science and it s attempts to teach an under
standing o f the society into which pupils w ill move on leaving school.
There is an increasing in te re st in languages and cultures outside those
which are immediately relevant, while greater emphasis is also being
placed on in te ra c tio n between the school and the s o cie ty which i t serves, w ith conm inity experience as a recognised fa c e t o f education (Anderson
& Beswick, 1972). R eligious dogma, on the o th e r hand, receives compara t iv e ly l i t t l e a tte n tio n , an example o f a vridespread trend toward re je c tio n o f organised r e lig io n (Anderson & Beswick, 1972; Ficke r & R ig te rin k ,
1972). An even more 'widespread re v u ls io n a g ainst war is apparent (F ic k e r & R ig te rin k , 1972).
The means by which schools educate t h e ir p u p ils have also changed r a d ic a lly . Apart from myriad teaching a id s , ranging from dustless chalk to language la b o ra to rie s , the p rin c ip le s behind teaching methods have a lte re d . For instance the a u th o rita ria n te a ch e r-p u p il re la tio n s h ip is w id e ly discouraged as being in a p p ro p ria te fo r p u p ils behaving according to a s e l f - c r i t i c a l ra th e r than a ' r e a l i s t i c ' m o ra lity (Anderson & Beswick, 1972; Bronfenbrenner, 1962; Burton, 1963). The s e lf - s u f f ic ie n t p u p il, re spectin g knowledge, not money o r power, is a re s u lt (Jencks & Riesman, 1967; Musgrove, 1966). S im ila r ly , w h ile com petitiveness has grown to be the dominant more in a ll education systems, there is some re a c tio n ag ainst th is amongst young people, who see self-im provem ent fo r i t s own sake as a more w orthw hile goal (Anderson & Beswick, 1972). This is e s p e c ia lly tru e o f t e r t ia r y in s t it u t io n s where students are in in
creasing contact w ith others from a ll socioeconomic s tr a ta , and o f va ryin g academic p re s tig e . Greater contact w ith students liv in g to g e th e r, m arried, re tu rn in g from vocations to t e r t ia r y stud y, o r pursuing post-graduate
s tu d ie s , re s u lts in w ider so cia l experience and gre a te r to le ra n ce o f in d iv id u a l d iffe re n c e s than fo rm e rly .
Previous generations have dreamed o f making education a v a ila b le to a l l . They have at la s t succeeded, and as a re s u lt t h e ir o ffs p r in g
are growing up in to a s o c ie ty very d iffe r e n t from th a t they themselves knew.
Adolescent and A dult in Contemporary S o cie ty. The three preceding sec» tio n s have o u tlin e d re s u lts from the view point o f the modern adolescent o f changes o ccu rrin g in the fa m ily , the ro le o f the peer group, and the school. I t was suggested under a previous heading th a t s o c ie ty as a whole is also undergoing ra p id change, and the present se ctio n des crib e s e ffe c ts o f th is in terms o f changing re la tio n s h ip s between adoles cent and a d u lt in contemporary s o c ie ty .
Young people, fin d in g the norms o f o ld e r s o c ie ty to be a t variance w ith t h e ir own, fre q u e n tly rebel against them, and against the o ld e r
members o f s o c ie ty adhering to them. R ebellion ra th e r than to le ra n ce is almost in e v ita b le fo r several reasons. For in sta n ce , as s o c ie ty becomes more m id d le -cla ss, m o ra lity becomes more s e l f - c r i t i c a l , ra th e r than a u th o rita ria n , as the o ld e r generations would have i t . Consequently adolescents r e je c t both the a u th o rita ria n m o ra lity o f the o ld e r genera t io n , and a d u lt attempts to impose i t (Bronfenbrenner, 1962; 3 u rto n , 1963).
With p re v io u s ly unequalled resources o f education and cu rre n t a f f a ir s knowledge from mass communication, youth are aware o f s o c ie ta l inadequacies. Concomitantly they are powerful in both fis c a l and numerical terms to an unprecedented degree (Brown, 1973). Yet they are adm itted to adulthood la t e r , regarded as apprentices to m a tu rity fo r lo n g e r, than ever before (Cole & H a ll, 1970). Consequently c h ild re a rin g is discontinuous w ith a d u lt l i f e . As parents do not know what a d u lt l i f e