the role of education in society - marxism Flashcards
althusser - ideological state apparatus
argues that the working class are controlled by the ruling class through 2 types of apparatus
repressive state apparatuses - physical control through institutions such as the police. justice system & the military
ideological state apparatuses - control over people’s ideas, beliefs and values (no physical force is used) - pass on the ruling class’s dominant ideology and is done through institutions such as the family, religion & education.
the more successful the isa’s are at passing on ruling class dominant ideology, the less work the rsa’s have to do
althusser - ideological state apparatus
part 2
education has replaced religion as the most important isa
education system passes on ruling-class ideology & teaches basic skills needed to perform in capitalist society.
working class are essentially forced to fail & end up taking up low status, low paid, alienating work roles.
ruling class ‘go to the top of the pile’ & go on to university where they are trained to fill their ruling class roles.
this means that social class inequalities are reproduced. ideology is used to justify inequalities. workers accept their place and believe they deserve their position.
meritocracy is a myth that has to be constantly reinforced so that inequalities are legitimised
bowles and gintis - schooling in capitalist america
capitalism requires a workforce that will accept exploitation.
the education system functions to produce the required workforce.
researched schools in the usa & concluded that education rewards those who will be submissive and compliant workers, such as rewards for punctuality.
education limits student development rather than encouraging it.
bowles and gintis - correspondence principle and hidden curriculum
the link between education and work is called the correspondence principle, e.g. both have hierarchies bosses/heads etc.
relationships and structures in education mirror those in work
operates through a hidden curriculum - not subjects but ideas, e.g. competition and hierarchy.
school prepares working-class pupils for work.
cohen - youth training schemes teach young people values rather than skills - accept low-paid work
bowles and gintis - the myth of meritocracy and the legitimation of class inequality
agree with althusser that meritocracy is a myth.
danger for capitalism if the poor recognise the inequality of the system, as they may rebel.
the system must prevent rebellion.
education is a ‘myth making machine’ designed to justify inequality by promoting the idea that failure is due to lack of hard work rather than injustices & inequalities of capitalist society.
the myth involves beliefs that:
- education is the path to success in work
- those at the top deserve to be there as they have worked the hardest.
- those at the bottom are to blame themselves.
criticisms of bowles and gintis
if education prepares people for work, then why do we have work-based training programmes?
ignore other factors such as gender & ethnicity.
not every student passively accepts the rules, regulations and ideology that the education system passes on
paul willis - learning to labour
combines marxist ideas with interactionist ideas he wanted to look at the meaning of education as well as the system
does not believe that there is a simple relationship between education & work - argues this view is too deterministic
conducted a study of 12 working class ‘lads’ in their final year of school using unstructured interviews & observations
found that the lads had a counter school culture which directly opposed the values of the education system (& capitalism) - they rejected values of subservience, motivation & acceptance of hierarchy.
actively chose to fail so that they could land their ‘dream jobs’ of manual labour.
ironically, not accepting the system meant the ‘lads’ ended up doing the unskilled labour that capitalism needed
criticisms of willis
small sample
the lads could have exaggerated / lied.
willis ignores ‘conformist culture’ within education & only focuses on one small subculture
feminists argue that Willis ignores females in his study & suggest that his work tells us more about masculinities rather than social class
evaluation of marxism
postmodernists say we now live in a different type of society - education reproduces diversity, not inequality.
marxists disagree with one another on whether pupils are indoctrinated or have free will.
ignores other forms of inequality - gender, ethnicity and sexuality
