EDUCATION - Althusser Flashcards
What did Althusser argue the education was a part of? HINT: ISA
The ideological state apparatus
Who’s ideas did he say were being spread throughout society by the RSA (Repressive State Apparatus)?
The bourgeoisie = This is how they maintained power!
What is the ISA (Ideological State Apparatus)?
These are institutions in society that spread the bourgeois ideology and ensure that the proletariat is in a state of false class consciousness.
What did Althusser say that schools and education institutions (part of the ISA) prepared working-class pupils for?
It prepared and told working-class pupils to accept a life of exploitation!
Who’s view is this similar to and why?
Durkheim’s view = Durkheim’s view is that education served to teach people the norms and values of society and to preserve the value consensus. For Althusser = These norms and values serve the interests of the ruling class and it is a capitalist consensus that prevents any necessary social change from taking place.
With what 2 curriculums can the education system perform the ideological role?
The FORMAL curriculum and the HIDDEN curriculum!
What does the education system teach children, in regards to the hierarchy and respect for authority?
Outside the formal curriculum, education also teaches us about hierarchy, respect for authority, obeying the rules. Again, while functionalists might argue these are important values and skills for society to function properly, Marxists like Althusser would argue that that these serve to keep the rich and powerful in their positions and to prevent rebellion and revolution.
How does the education system/the formal curriculum ethnocentric?
The UK education system is much keener to learn from the mistakes of Germans, Russians and Americans, while learning the triumphs and justice of the British. A lesson that Britain is always right, that our leaders are wise and just and that it is important to preserve our great traditions, is a very effective conservative ideology that helps people to believe that it would be wrong to push for radical social change.
What 2 roles does Althusser say that the education system performs as an ISA?
REPRODUCTION and LEGITIMIATION
Explain reproduction in education!
Education REPRODUCES class identity by failing each generation of working class pupils in turn - This ensures that they end up in the same kinds of jobs as their parents (REPRODUCES INEQUALITY)
Explain legitimation in education.
Education LEGITIMATES (which means JUSTIFIES) class inequality by producing ideologies (sets of ideas and beliefs) that disguise its true cause - Education tries to convince people that inequality is INEVITABLE and that failure is the individuals’ fault, not the capitalist system’s!
