Niklas Luhmann speaks of the function of education in relation to modern society. Only within modern society, he argues, is it possible to speak of the differentiation of a specific function system of education. It is, more particularly, the differentiation of other function systems that leads to the question about the function of education. I look closely at Luhmann's analyses of the function of education and make a plea for a socio-historical approach, which looks at the ways in which education "functions" within society. Depending on the situation, beliefs in the functionality of education have given form to specific characteristics of the contemporary world society.