marxist view on education- Bowles & Gintis Flashcards
what do they argue is the key role of the education system?
reproducing a workforce who are hardworking, disciplined, submissive, and obedient + unquestioning to serve capitalism
what is the key thing they look at ?
correspondence principle
what and when was their study?
1976 study of ‘schooling in capitalist America’
what did they find in their study?
school and the workplace value similar traits- there is a correspondence between the two settings
what is the correspondence principle?
the relationships and structures found in education mirror or correspond to those at work .e.g showing respect to authority valued in both
-states education corresponds to employment
what do they argue education is controlled by and serves the interest for
argue education is controlled by capitalists + serves their interests as schooling is used to prepare children to work in capitalist businesses.
what does capitalism require?
a hardworking,docile and obedient workforce which will not challenge the decisions of management
Bowles and Gintis argue that education prepares such a workforce through?
the hidden curriculum
hidden curriculum
the values, behaviours and attitudes taught through the organisation the school
what does phil cohen argue
argues that youth training schemes serve capitalism by teaching young workers not genuine job skills but rather the attitudes + values needed in a subordinate labour force
the myth of meritocracy
what do Bowles and Gintis believe about the education system?
believe it legitimise class inequality and produces ideology that serve to explain and justify why inequality is fair, natural and inevitable
myth of meritocracy argues that
everyone has an equal opportunity to acheive and rewards based on ability and effort
myth of meritocracy serves to justify?
the privileges of the higher cllasses making it seem that they gained them through succeeding in open + fair competition ay school
-helps persuade the wc to accept inequality as legitimate + ,makes it less likely they will seek to overthrow capitalism
what did Bowles and Gintis find in schooling in capitalist America?
-capitalism requires workforce with kind of attitudes + personalities suited to their role as alienated and exploited workers willing to accept hard work, low pay and orders from abov
what do bowles and gintis argue is the role of education in capitalist society?
to reproduce an obedient workforce that will accept inequality as inevitable
what did they find in their own study of 237 new york students?
concluded that schools reward precisely the kind of personality traits that make for a submissive,compliant worker
found that students who showed what tended to get low grades vs those who tended to get higher grades?
students who showed independencee + creativty tend to get lower grades whilst those showed characteristics linked to obedience and discipline (e.g punctuality) tended to get higher grades
Bowles + Gintis concluded that schooling helps to produce the obedient workers’ capitalism needs. What do they argue about education?
they do not belive education fosters personal development rather it stunts and distorts students’ development
Rikowski(2002,2005) argues there had been what of schools?
‘business takeover’ of schools e.g businesses sponsoring academies the subcontracting of many school services to private business - emphasis on competition between schools
evaluations
237 nyc students cannot be generalised to UK population
