Marxism

Question 1

private ownership

Answer 1

a class system in society

Question 2

briefly explain Marx view of private ownership

Answer 2

he was interested in how private ownership of the means of production equated to power in society and splits society into 2 classes which creates conflict.

Question 3

briefly explain Marx view of capitalism

Answer 3

it was a broken system which perpetuates class inequality that would eventually be overthrown by a communist system.

Question 4

legitimation of class inequality

Answer 4

how the education system makes it appear that capitalism is the only and right economic

Question 5

means of production

Answer 5

facilities and resources to produce goods

Question 6

reproduction of class inequality

Answer 6

the way in which children are brought up through the norm of the working class having unequal opportunities and staying below the bourgeoisie

Question 7

capitalist ideology

Answer 7

The ideas and beliefs of capitalism

Question 8

exploitation

Answer 8

way in which the ruling class deny the working class the real value of their labour.

Question 9

ideological state apparatus

Answer 9

institutions like the education system which serve to spread the ideology and culture of capitalism

Question 10

proletariat

Answer 10

don’t own means of production and social class of workers who have to work for their wages

Question 11

bourgeoisie

Answer 11

class of owners who own the means of production

Question 12

briefly explain the difference between functionalist and marxist views of the education system.

Answer 12

functionalists believe the stability is based upon the internalisation of value consensus. however Marxists see the education system as a key component in preventing a revolution and maintaining capitalism.

Question 13

what 2 elements did Althusser indentify which help keep the ruling class in power

Answer 13

repressive state apparatus (RSA)- maintains the power of the ruling class through force (eg. police and courts)

ideological state apparatus (ISA)- maintains the power of the ruling class by controlling peoples ideas, values and beliefs (eg. religion, mass and education

Question 14

what 2 important functions did Althusser argue the ISA performs

Answer 14

1) legitimates class inequality by producing ideologies that disguise its true cause. the function of ideology is to persuade workers to accept that inequality is inevitable and that they deserve their subordinate position in society.

2) reproduces class inequality by transmitting it from generation to generation, by failing each successive generation of working class pupil in turn.

Question 15

briefly explain Bowles and Gintis view of the hidden curriculum

Answer 15

they believe that schools create compliance through the hidden curriculum. Through the hidden curriculum schools help to produce obedient workers that capitalism needs by rewarding passive and submissive students but punishes those who show creativity and independence.

Question 16

what was the Bowles and Gintis research into the correspondence principle

Answer 16

they measured students personality traits using a questionnaire results with students school grades averaged and exam scores.
they found a correlation between personality traits valued by employers, eg. passivity and obedience, and high scores at school.

The questionnaire allowed them to study a large sample and to establish a correlation that supported their hypothesis that a correspondence principle existed.

Question 17

correspondence principle

Answer 17

the role of the education system in capitalist societies is to produce an obedient workforce.

Question 18

summarise the marxist view of the education system (mainly role allocation)

Answer 18

from their point of view schools and training courses do serve to allocate people for jobs. However, these systems don’t offer equality of educational opportunity and nor does it operate under meritocratic principles. Also it doesn’t act as a route for social mobility. Schooling actually depresses the talents and lowers the aspiration levels of working class students. In this way working class pupils are sifted out of the education system and they are supposed to fail so that they can take up appropriate blue collar occupations. The net result of the role allocation function of schools and training programmes is to reproduce the social class structure.

Question 19

what did Bowles and Gintis argue that the education system helps to do?

Answer 19

helps to prevent a working class rebellion by legitimating class inequalities through producing ideologies that justify why inequality is fair and natural.

Question 20

explain the controversy of meritocracy within the education system between functionalist and marxist perspectives

Answer 20

Functionalists believe school has meritocratic principles, meaning everyone has equal opportunities to succeed so if they fail they blame the individual not the system. However, Marxists say there is a myth of meritocracy and that achievement is based off of income and class and not the individual’s ability or educational achievement.

Question 21

what do Bowles and Gintis see the myth of meritocracy to justify?

Answer 21

justifies the privileges of the higher classes, making it seem they gained them through succeeding in open and fair competition in school.

Question 22

How do Bowles and Gintis describe the justification of poverty in the education system?

Answer 22

They describe it as “the poor are dumb” theory of failure. This blames poverty on the individual rather than on capitalism.

Question 23

marxist’s view of the vocational training role in the education system

Answer 23

they don’t agree with how functionalists think that schools transmit a range of practical skills that can be used for social and economic enchancement . Marxists believe that social control is the central role of schools. Marxists also are critical of vocational courses since they are often seen as inferior to more academic subjects.

Question 24

what did marxist Dan Finn argue about Youth Training Schemes in the 1970/80’s (YTS)?

Answer 24

it enabled businesses to employ young people as cheap labour and to reduce the expectations of the young working class participants. This helped to reinforce their low position in the social hierachy.

Question 25

what type of marsixt is Willis

Answer 25

humanist marxist who doesn’t believe that the working class are passive victims of an oppressive education system

Question 26

what is the difference between Bowles and Gintis and Willis in terms of the myth of meritocracy

Answer 26

B&G see education as a straightforward process of indoctrination into the myth of meritocracy. Willis shows how working class students resist attempts to indoctrinate them, and instead he looks at how these students chose to fail themselves.

Question 27

what did Willis do in his study (called learning to labour)

Answer 27

studied counter school culture of ‘the lads’ (group of 12 working class boys) as they make the transition from school to work. He used qualitative research methods including participant observation and unstructured interview.

Question 28

how did the 12 working class boys behave in Willis’s study

Answer 28

lads from a distinct counter culture opposed to the school. They make fun of ear’oles (boys who listen to teachers) and girls as they find school meaningless so they reject the rules and values (e.g. by smoking, disrupting). The lads resist the schools meritocratic ideology that working class pupils can achieve through hard work.

Question 29

how is the behaviour of of the participants in Willis’s study similar to the culture of male manual workers?

Answer 29

Willis found that the lads in the anti-school counter culture and the shop floor culture of male manual workers.
Both cultures see manual work as superior work that is inferior. The lads identify strongly with male manual work and this explains why they see themselves as superior to those who aspire to non-manual jobs (e.g. girls and ear’oles).

Question 30

how does the counter culture they have created ensure that they are prepared for unskilled work that captialism needs someone to perform (Willis study)

Answer 30

-the lads counter culture of resistance to school helps them to slot into every day jobs that capitalism needs someone to perform.
-the lads have accustomed to boredom and amusing themselves in school as they don’t expect satisfication from work so they can find ways to amuse themselves in unskilled labour.
-their acts of rebellion guarantee they will end up in unskilled jobs, by ensuring their failure to gain worthwhile qualifications.

Question 31

hierarchy

Answer 31

the way society is divided up into groups with different levels of power and status

Question 32

false class consciousness

Answer 32

the inability of the working class to fully understand their social and economic situation and how they’re being exploited.

Question 33

capitalism

Answer 33

an economic system in which individuals and businesses privately own capital goods

Question 34

social control

Answer 34

how institutions (like education) manipulate and determine individual behaviour to ensure that there is no instability.

Question 35

correspondence principle

Answer 35

the way in which school mirrors the workplace

Question 36

alienation

Answer 36

the way in which the working class become detached and disconnected from the work they are doing.

Question 37

Both Althusser and Bowles and Gintis dispute the Functionalist theory of role allocation. What are 3 factors of this?

Answer 37

-equality of opportunity doesn’t exist (e.g. unequal treatment from teachers by things like teacher labelling and low expectations of working class, different levels of opportunities to study at school are available).
-role allocation isn’t based on meritocratic principles and instead marxists argue it is based on social class.
-education offers limited opportunities for social mobility (social class of student determines the job they’ll end up in).