The Role of Education : Marxist Flashcards
What did Althusser state AO1 ?
The ideological state apparatus. It consists of two elements which keep the bourgeoisie in power : repressive state apparatus and ideological state apparatus.
What is the repressive state apparatus ?
This maintains the rule through force or threat of it e.g. police may use physical coercion to repress the working class.
What is the ideological state apparatus ?
Maintains the rule by controlling people’s thoughts and ideas, values and beliefs e.g. education media.
What do Marxist state the two roles of the education system are AO1 ?
1 - Reproduces class inequality by transmitting it from one generation to generation. For failing each successive generation of WC pupils in turn.
2 - Justifies class inequality by producing ideologies. This to persuade workers to accept that inequality is inevitable ad that they deserve their subordinate position. Accepting these ideas mean they are less likely to challenge capitalisms.
What did Bowles and Gintis state ?
They state that capitalism requires a workforce with the kind of attitudes, behavior and personality suited to their role as alienated ad exploited workers are willing to accept hard work, low ay and orders from above. Ultimately, they believe education is to create an obedient workforce.
What is the correspondence principle ?
The corresponding parallels between head teachers of schools and bosses in the work field and how they relate considering they both dish out orders and reinforce harsh rules. This theory was supported by Bowles and Gintis.
What is the legitimation of class inequality ?
Bowles and Gintis state that in our capitalist society there will always be inequality and that there is the chance of the working class of feeling this inequality. In their view, the education system is way of preventing this. They also believe that the education is a myth-making machine since they created the false idea of meritocracy.
Why do Bowles and Gintis believe that meritocracy is a false idea ?
Meritocracy is the idea that every individual has a equal opportunity at at achieving the same achievements. They believe that it doesn’t exist at all. There evidence to support this is the fact that many people with the highest incomes come from already wealthy backgrounds and higher classes.
What was Willis’ study on and what did he find ?
He combined the interactionist approach with the way education serve capitalism, the way that pupils treat their situations. Willis studied 12 working class ‘lads’ as they make the transition to work from school. He found they formed an anti-school subculture as they knew school would of no help to them and knew their path.
What are the evaluation points of the Marxist approach ?
Postmodernists argue that education now reproduces diversity not inequality. They also criticise Bowles and Gintis saying they need to reproduce a very different work force for todays society. Marxist criticise one another as Bowles and Gintis take a deterministic view saying students have no free will whereas Willis rejects that view and school simply brainwashes their students into passively accepting their fate. Critics argue that Willis romanticises the ‘lads’ portraying them as working-class heroes despite their anti-social behaviour.
