Whereas teaching of sociology is discussed in terms of innovations to make theory more attractive and accessible, teaching applied sociology remains an unfashionable topic for intellectual discussion and analysis. It is described as a service area taught by 'invisible sociologists', removed from the pursuit of explicit theory. Taking the case of an education degree, it is argued that teaching in applied courses can produce a kind of sociologist able to see the world of schools through a sociological eye. The aims in this article are to: outline the conditions constraining sociology in applied situations; reflect on the context of sociology in an education degree and justify a rationale for teaching sociology through concepts; argue for a method of curriculum design and course activities built from student ontology and self-understanding of their future occupation; describe how a school system is constructed in a one-semester course; and argue for implicit theory in applied courses as a defensible sociological practice.Keywords applied sociology, concept-based learning, higher education, teacher education looking back on it … it seemed like a fluff subject … but by the end of it, now, it's 'Oh! … I think I know why that school's got those students and has got this curricula and I can understand why they've gone that way and if I move from a school over here to the school over there I'm gonna understand why they've got a different curriculum, why they've got different types of order.… Like I'm gonna have a better understanding of that sort of thing.' But at week two I'm like 'This is only going to be valuable if I'm like a principal.… Why the hell do I need to know something now about like why low socioeconomic kids are going to perform worse than others? When am I going to be able to use this information?' It looks like a worthless subject at week two and it seems like a good subject by the end … (Toni) 1