Marxism and education

Question 1

what is the minority class / the capital class known as?

Answer 1

The Bourgeoisie

Question 2

what is the working class known as ?

Answer 2

the proletariat

Question 3

definition of a bourgeoisie ?

Answer 3

someone who owns the means of production (eg, factories)

Question 4

definition of a proletariat?

Answer 4

someone who is forces to sell there labor

Question 5

what is the Marxist view of education?

Answer 5

education functions to prevent revolution and maintain capitalism.

Question 6

what are the two things louis Althusser distinguished between.?

Answer 6

repressive state apparatus and ideological state apparatus.

Question 7

what does the repressive state apparatus do?

Answer 7

RSAs maintain the rule of the bourgeoisie
through force, or the threat of force i.e.
the army and police.

Question 8

what does the ideological state apparatus do?

Answer 8

ISAs maintain the rule of the bourgeoisie
by controlling the ideas, norms and
values of the proletariat – through the
media and education system.

Question 9

according to Althusser why is education an important ideological state apparatus?

Answer 9

It reproduces class inequality and Legitimates class inquality

Question 10

according to Althusser how does the ideological state apparatus reproduce class inequality?

Answer 10

By transmitting it from generation to generation, by failing each successive generation of working-class pupils in
turn

Question 11

according to Althusser how does ideological state apparatus legitimize class inequality?

Answer 11

By producing ideologies that disguise its true cause. It persuades workers to accept that inequality is inevitable

Question 12

name 3 sociologists and there criticisms of Althusser?

Answer 12

😓 Feminists - Marxism ignores the possibility of manipulating and shaping the ideas of females through patriarchal ideologies which exist in education

😓 Davis and Moore - Inequality is necessary

😓 Parsons - Education is meritocratic, not unfair

Question 13

how many participants were in bowls and gintis study?

Answer 13

237 new york high school students.

Question 14

what did bowl and gintis conclude from there study?

Answer 14

schools reward the kind of behaviors that make a compliant submissive worker.

Schooling helps produce obedient workers that capitalism needs

Education doesn’t help personal development.

Question 15

according to bowls and gintis what is the correspondence principal?

Answer 15

the idea that there are close parallels between school and the workplace.

Question 16

what does the correspondence principal operate through?

Answer 16

the hidden curriculum

Question 17

according to Bowles and Gintis what is the hidden curriculum?

Answer 17

all lessons which are learnt in school which are not directly taught

Question 18

name an example of the correspondence principal ?

Answer 18

the Hierarchy of authority

Question 19

what is bowels and gintis idea on the myth of meritocracy?

Answer 19

Meritocracy doesn’t exist - success determined by family income and class background, not their ability or achievements

Question 20

myth of meritocracy - what is the capitalist society based on?

Answer 20

Capitalist society is based on inequality and there is always a danger that the poor will feel that this inequality is unfair, and that they will rebel
against the system responsible for it

Question 21

why was Paul Willis: learning to labor critical of Bowles and gintis ?

Answer 21

He argued that they presented
people as being passive and accepting their indoctrination.

Instead, he argued that working class pupils resist attempts to
indoctrinate them – they are not passive.

Question 22

what were the two arguments Willis combined?

Answer 22

Marxists and interactionist

Question 23

what does post-Fordism argue?

Answer 23

school mirrors the workplace. - capitalism requires compliant workers to supply mass production.

Question 24

what do post modernists argue?

Answer 24

the Marxist view is outdated. Society has entered a post modern phase where class division is no longer important. society is much more diverse now.

Answer 25

😓 Marxists disagree with one another about how class is legitimated and reproduced in education. Bowles and Gintis are very deterministic, whereas Willis is more voluntaristic

😓 Willis’ account of the working-class boys is romanticized - they showed misogynistic and deviant behavior, but were
painted to be heroic for resisting capitalist ideologies of education

😓 Morrow and Carlos - Marxism focuses too much on class inequalities, and ignores ethnic and gender inequalities that
are maintained in education

Question 26

20 mark essay question.

Answer 26

Many sociologists argue that today’s technologically complex economy needs to recruit young people with
talent, and to give them the skills and motivation to perform the most important and difficult jobs.
However, other sociologists argue that what the economy requires is large numbers of workers who are
prepared to work for low pay and to obey the orders of their superiors in the production process.

Applying material from Item B and your knowledge, evaluate the view that the main role of the education
system is to serve the needs of the economy.

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