EDUCATION - CORRESPONDENCE THEORY = Bowles and Gintis Flashcards
What principle did Bowles and Gintis identify?
The CORRESPONDENCE principle - This basically means that there are fragments of the workplace in the education system/’similarities’ between education and the workplace!
What did Bowles and Gintis state? HINT: A quote about work!
They states that there is a ‘long shadow of work’ over education/’work casts a long shadow over school’
What did they believe the role of education was?
They believed that education reproduced the right workplace for capitalism!
What were the four aspects of education that B + G noticed in the workplace?
- Hierarchy
- Rewards/sanctions
- Motivation
- Fragmentation
What is an element of a hierarchy in education?
The hierarchy of headteacher, to other staff members, to prefects, to ‘regular’ pupils - There is a different power dynamic between the different sections!
What is an element of a hierarchy in the workplace (in the capitalist society)?
The hierarchy of a CEO or boss, to the management team/groups, to the ‘ordinary’ workers - Again, the ‘workers’ will be the ‘pupils’ in this situation, which demonstrates the ‘correspondence’ principle!
What is an element of rewards/sanctions in education?
Children get rewarded for their good behaviour, such as R points. Children also get sanctions for their bad behaviour, such as C points.
Explain why some children get sanctioned for their ‘bad behaviour’ which is actually just them being creative!
Some children may get sanctioned for their ‘bad behaviour’ when they are actually just being creative - This links in to the idea that children are REPRODUCED to be workers, not to have creative minds!
What is an element of rewards/sanctions in the workplace?
A reward in the workplace is your pay, but there may be extra bonuses or pay rises given out for hard work and good behaviour. A sanction in the workplace would be losing their job or getting sanctioned (perhaps for their creative minds).
What is an element of motivation in education?
Children are motivated to work hard, as they get ‘rewarded’ for their hard work, such as by getting 100% on a test or A* grades!
What is an element of motivation in the workplace?
Workers get paid for their work, which causes them to be motivated. However, some workers may also be motivated to gain external rewards, such as going on holiday = People are just one cog in a much larger system!
What is an element of fragmentation in education?
Children in school learn in clear and simple lessons, such as in maths, that have no link to anything else - This means that they are stopped from making any connections between different lessons, which may then lead to them developing a class consciousness.
What is an element of fragmentation in the workplace?
Workers do their jobs with little to no knowledge about the rest of the workplace process - This means that they are very unlikely to develop a consciousness and become aware that they are being exploited!
What is one evaluation regarding this principle and WHEN it took place?
This studied was conducted in 1976, which suggests that their work may be quite OUTDATED - Their findings may suit society better THEN, than it does to society today (as many jobs have changed from the ones that they researched).
What is another evaluating point regarding this principle and SOCIETY TODAY?
Again, this theory is very OUTDATED - Schools today are very different from schools back in the 1970s; today, pupils are encouraged to complain about the negative aspects of school and to help come up with improvements!
