Marxist views of education Flashcards
what do Bowles and Gintis mean by the ‘long shadow of work’?-
- school prepares you for a long mundane job as school limits creativity, conform and behave in right way
what do Bowles and Gintis mean by reproduction of the workforce?
- economy (capitalist and profit driven) feeds into the capitalist system so that there are enough people paid as little as possible in mundane jobs
what do Bowles and Gintis mean by the hidden curriculum?
- the ethos of the school - unwritten and unspecified thing stating that students power is less than teachers so that they accept authority and learn
how do schools mirror the work place - correspondence principle?
- punctuality
- rewards/sanctions
- extrinsic motivations
- division of students
- hierarchies and power
- privileges for conformity/status
what evaluative points can be made about correspondence theory?
- Bowles and Gintis conducted their research in 1976 so findings are more applicable to when they were writing than they are to present day
- modern workplace is much less like the one they described in the 1970s
what does Althusser talk about with his ideological state apparatus?
- the ruling class look to control the masses through different apparatus
- repressive state apparatus - physical control, coercion, police, military, courts
- ideological state apparatus - control over thoughts, beliefs and ideas, education, religion, media
what does the ideological state apparatus do?
- teaches students the necessary skills for employment
- reproduces the dominant ideology of ruling class
- reproduces and legitimises inequality
how do schools achieve this ideological sate apparatus?
- fragmented curriculum
- basic skills - literacy, numeracy
- curriculum based on ruling-class values - history, literature, music
- myth of meritocracy
how do functionalists criticise Marxist approaches towards education?
- agree with their ideas but suggest that they are beneficial for society
- limited empirical evidence for Althusser’s ideas
why would sociologists suggest Marxist ideas are too deterministic?
- more children from manual labour backgrounds going into HE than ever before - still only 9%
what does Bourdieu mean by ‘habitus’?
- the environment you live in and the things around you - own cultural framework and set of ideas which influences their tastes and choices
what does Bourdieu mean by ‘symbolic capital’?
- m/c students have knowledge of how to interact and have ease with teachers
what does Bourdieu mean by ‘symbolic violence’?
- w/c culture is devalued and they are forced to learn m/c knowledge and values - feel inferior and uneasy
what does Willis argue?
- that students from subcultures within their school in which they misbehave and differ from the school ethos
- therefore differs from other sociologists as he believes school does not socialise children in the way society thinks it does
what method did Willis use for his study?
- used a mix of observation and interviews allowing rich validity
what characterises their counter-school culture (what do they see as important)?
- working for money and achieving
- validity from their peers, no interest in their school, having a laugh/jokes - no interest in teachers’ learning curriculum
what evaluative points can be made about Willis and ‘lads culture’?
- his close bonds with boys could have caused Hawthorne Effect (behaviour change when realise you’re being observed
- only studied 12 working class boys from one school
- too deterministic - suggests w/c kids destined to end up in w/c jobs
how does Neo-Marxist Giroux criticise the Marxist view on education?
- rejects the idea that w/c children passively accept their lot and become compliant workers
- Marxists also fail to see that gender, ethnicity and religion often combine with class to produce success or failure
how does New Rightist, Saunders criticise the Marxist approach on education?
- say some people are high achieving and some aren’t - just genetics
- argue m/c possess genetic advantages from parents in form of talent whereas, w/c inherit a genetic deficit in regards to intelligence and ability
how do Neo-liberals and Chubb and Moe criticise Marxist approach on education?
- argue education system fails all pupils - not just working class
- most pupils are not well prepared for a global economy
- Marxists fail to see that state intervention in education has failed all social groups not just w/c
- Chubb and Moe say education is inefficient and has failed to equip all students w skills needed to be successful in global marketplace
how do Postmodernists, Morrow and Torres criticise Marxist approach to education?
- say modern schools produce diversity and individualisation
- students actively construct their own identities
