Theorists - Education

Question 1

Althusser

(Marxism)

Answer 1

Capitalism is maintained through…

• The Repressive State Apparatus - the state use force to stop rebellion e.g. police, army
• The Ideological State Apparatus - institutions brainwash proletariat by spreading bourgeois ideology to ensure they are in a state of false class consciousness

Question 2

Bowles & Gintis

(Marxism)

Answer 2

The Correspondence Principle

School prepares students for work by mirroring the workplace in several ways

E.g. Detention -> Fired, Teachers -> Managers, Achievements -> Promotion

Bowles and Gintis believe this occurs through the hidden curriculum, which is all the lessons taught in school that aren’t directly taught

Question 3

Paul Willis

(Neo-Marxism)

Answer 3

Learning to Labour

Instead of the correspondence principle, Willis believes that working-class students don’t passively accept the system, but know that they are set up to fail

They see through the myth of meritocracy, and form counter-school subcultures where they go against school rules and aspire to manual jobs

Crucially, the end result is the same as Bowles and Gintis theory as the boys still fail and become servants to capitalism

Question 4

Pierre Bourdieu

Answer 4

Cultural Capital

It is not only money that gives the wealthy power, but cultural assets too.

He argued that children of middle-class or wealthier parents are likely to have knowledge, behaviour, attitudes and cultural experiences that ensure they succeed in education and society.
This is because schools assess cultural capital rather than what has been learnt in school and perceive cultural capital as intelligence, also leading them to applying a positive label to the pupils

Habitus

The norms, values, attitudes and behaviours of a particular social group or class

Question 5

Basil Bernstein

Answer 5

Language codes

He argued that teachers, textbooks, exam papers and middle-class pupils share a different language code to working-class pupils.

Working class pupils tend to use the restricted code (informal English) whilst teachers, textbooks, exams etc. use elaborate code.

This contributes to schools reproducing inequality.

Question 6

Durkheim

(Functionalism)

Answer 6

Education performs two basic functions:

1. Promotes social solidarity. Education binds people together by teaching students the norms and values of society, as well as a common history and shared rituals. It also teaches children to follow the same universalistic rules
2. It prepares students for work. Education equips individuals with the specialist skills needed to participate in work in a modern society

Question 7

Parsons

(Functionalism)

Answer 7

Secondary Socialisation

School is there to act as a bridge between family and wider society, and teaches everyone universalisti standards.
It gives students the shared values that we all have in our meritocratic society

Meritocracy

Individual achievement - everyone achieved their status through their own efforts and abilities

Equal opportunity - every individual the opportunity to reach their full potential

Question 8

Davis and Moore

(Functionalism)

Answer 8

Role Allocation

Some people are naturally more talented than others and some job roles are more complex than others

For society to function efficiently, the most talented people need to be allocated the more complex jobs

Higher rewards are offered for the more complex jobs which motivates everyone to strive for them

A meritocratic education system allows everyone to compete for these jobs equally. The education system allows the most talented individuals to get the best qualifications and therefore allocated the best jobs

Question 9

Chubb and Moe

(New Right)

Answer 9

One Size Fits All