Marxist Perspective Of Education

Question 1

What is the ideological state apparatus?

Answer 1

An institution, influenced by the State, that transmits ruling-class ideas in the guise of mainstream ideas in order to reproduce, legitimise and hide existing patterns of class inequality

Question 2

What is the main function of education as an ideological state apparatus?

Answer 2

To ensure that ruling class dominance of economic, social & political power continues undisturbed, by convincing working class pupils that their educational failure is their fault

Question 3

What is the hidden curriculum, and how does it differ from the academic curriculum?

Answer 3

The curriculum is concerned with transmitting knowledge and skills, whereas the hidden curriculum (embodied in the organisation, rules & routines of schools) is concerned with transmitting conforming attitudes

Question 4

According to Althusser, what is the function of classroom knowledge such as history?

Answer 4

History teaching has focused traditionally on powerful figures such as Kings and Queens. This passes on the idea that heredity, hierarchy & obedience to authority are worthy values and norms

Question 5

Why are city academies criticised by Marxist sociologists?

Answer 5

of their lessons emphasise capitalist values such as free enterprise. This is not surprising, as city academies are financed partly by private capital

Question 6

According to Althusser, what does most classroom knowledge either neglect or ignore altogether?

Answer 6

Subjects that contain knowledge that might be used to criticise the capitalist system, e.g. republicanism, socialism, feminism

Question 7

According to Marxists sociologists, what happens to those pupils who question the legitimacy of teachers and education?

Answer 7

They are often defined as problematic, anti-authority etc. and relegated to lower sets and streams, in which they are subjected to further social controls. This leads to their eventual failure

Question 8

What message does the hidden curriculum mainly transmit, especially to working class pupils?

Answer 8

That failure is the result of individual deficiency, rather than a consequence of capitalism’s need for a manual labour force

Question 9

How do Bowles & Gintis view the concept of meritocracy?

Answer 9

As an ideological myth. A few working class pupils are allowed access to further and higher education to give the impression of equality of opportunity, which is false

Question 10

Critics argue the Marxist sociologists of education have a simple view of decision-making and power in education. Why is this?

Answer 10

They say education benefits a capitalist elite, but the large number of influential groups in the education system suggests Marxists are being too simplistic

Question 11

How might truancy and exclusion be used to criticise the Marxist theory of education?

Answer 11

It sugests the hidden curriculum doesn’t always succeed in producing conformist pupils

Question 12

Critics argue the Marxist sociologists of education have a simple view of decision-making and power in education. Why is this?

Answer 12

They say education benefits a capitalist elite, but the large number of influential groups in the education system suggests Marxists are being too simplistic

Question 13

Why is it difficult to test Marxist concepts such as the hidden curriculum and ideology?

Answer 13

They are highly abstract ideas that are difficult to operationalise (turn into variables that can be observed & measured easily)

Question 14

Why did Paul Willis’s ‘lads’ see education as irrelevant?

Answer 14

Because they were happy to move into manual work in factories, for which qualifications were generally not required

Question 15

What was the effect of the hidden curriculum on Willis’s ‘lads’?

Answer 15

There was no effect. The value system of the school was ignored – the ‘lads’ substituted their own value system based on ‘having a laff’

Question 16

Why is Willis’s research an interpretivist critique of Marxism?

Answer 16

Unlike traditional Marxists, Willis was interested in how the ‘lads’ in his study saw and interpreted the world around them. He noted that they actively sought out working class jobs and chose to ‘fail’ at school – they were not forced

Question 17

Who are the two most important functionalist thinkers with regard to the role of education?

Answer 17

Durkheim and Parsons

Question 18

According to functionalism what two elements underpin social order?

Answer 18

Value consensus (general agreement on norms & values) and an integrated division of labour (the way jobs and skills are organised)

Question 19

Identify two ways in which the education system serves as a secondary agent of socialisation

Answer 19

It socialises each generation into society’s values, norms, attitudes etc, particularly the belief that work is a highly valued activity. It encourages social conformity by stressing adherence to formal rules

Question 20

According to Durkheim, what is the function of the knowledge taught in schools?

Answer 20

To bind individuals to society, e.g. by making them aware of the past achievements of their society, so encouraging cultural pride

Question 21

Apart from transmitting knowledge, how do schools convey the idea that the social group is more important than the individual?

Answer 21

rough mechanisms such as school uniforms, assemblies a