Role of Education: Marxism

Question 1

What are the 5 roles marxists believe education is responsible for

Answer 1

Ideological state apparatus
Alienation and exploitation of workers
Correspondence principal and hidden curriculum
Myth of meritocracy
Learning to labour

Question 2

Which sociologists came up with these?

Answer 2

Althusser: ideological state apparatus
Bowles and Gintis: exploitation and alienation, correspondence principle and hidden curriculum, myth of meritocracy
Paul Willis: learning to labour

Question 3

what is the ideological state apparatus?

Answer 3

ALTHUSSER
this is the way the bourgeoisie maintain rule through the control of ideas, values and beliefs.
- eduaction is an ISA
- this is different from a repressive state apparatus that uses force e.g police

Question 4

how does education work as an ISA?

Answer 4

ALTHUSSER
reproduces class inequality by passing it down generations
legitimatises class inequality by producing ideologies that disguise true cause to persuade workers to accept their inequality

Question 5

explain exploitation and alienation

Answer 5

BOWLES AND GINTIS
- capitalism requires this sort of worker that will accept low paid bad condition jobs
- they found that students are rewarded if they show traits for a submissive complaint worker
- students that showed traits inc obedience and discipline gained higher grades than those who showed creativity and independence

Question 6

explain correspondence principal and hidden curriculum

Answer 6

BOWLES AND GINTIS
- close parallels between school and work e.g hierarchy
- school takes place in the long shadow of work
- argue correspondence principal takes place through hidden curriculum (lessons not taught directly)
- this prepares students for a work like environment

COHEN
- argues youth training schemes serve capitalism by teaching workers attitudes and vales needed to serve capitalism rather than teaching skills for work

Question 7

explain what is meant by myth of meritocracy

Answer 7

BOWLES AND GINTIS
- explain eduaction as ‘a giant myth making machine’, one of these myths being meritocracy
- (this would mean everyone has an equal chance and highest paid jobs go to hardest workers)
- justify privilege of middle and upper classes

Question 8

learning to labour

Answer 8

PAUL WILLIS
- some working class students will push back against this capitalist ideology
- combines with interactionists approach
- “the lads”

Question 9

the lads

Answer 9

PAUL WILLIS
- study on 12 working class boys
- anti school culture had been formed which was compares to shop floor culture that manual work is better
- still feeds capitalism
1. being accustomed to boring school meant that they were fine with boring jobs
2. they are unlikely to have qualifications so will have to take an unskilled job

Question 10

Criticisms

Answer 10

Postmodernists
Marxists can’t agree on reproduction and legitimisation (PAUL WILLIS + BOWLES AND GINTIS)
Critics of paul willis study
Critical modernists and feminists

Question 11

Critical modernists and feminists

Answer 11

argue class is not the only reason for inequality

Question 12

Critics of paul willis study

Answer 12

• small sample size
• are they being romanticised?

Question 13

Postmodernist cristism

Answer 13

argue todays economy requires a different kind of labour force not made by correspondence principal
post fordism - schools reproduce diversity not inequality