marxism

Question 1

what is an ideological state apparatus?

Answer 1

a social institution whose main role is to pass on the dominant ideology of the ruling class

Question 2

what is a repressive state apparatus?

Answer 2

a social institution whose role is to enforce the dominant ideology by force/threat of force eg police

Question 3

what is the correspondence principle?

Answer 3

the ways in which the education system mirrors the world of work

Question 4

who are the two key thinkers on the marxist perspective on education?

Answer 4

-Althusser
-Bowles and Gintis

Question 5

what are the two points put forward by althusser?

Answer 5

-reproduction of social inequality
-legitimisation of social inequality

Question 6

how does education reproduce social inequality according to althusser?

Answer 6

-deliberately engineers W/C failure in order to create an unqualified factory workforce
-private education prepares children of the elite for positions of powers
-hidden curriculum is shaped to assist M/C achievement and deter W/C achievement

Question 7

how does education legitimise social inequality according to althusser?

Answer 7

-M/C has access to more cultural and economic capital which puts them at an advantage
-education encourages children to blindly accept capitalist values through hidden curriculum

Question 8

what are the two functions of education put forward by Bowles and Gintis?

Answer 8

-correspondence principle
-myth of meritocracy

Question 9

how does the correspondence principle relate to education?

Answer 9

-school processes mirror those of the world of work to prepare for manual labour eg lack of control, obedience, boredom

Question 10

how does the myth of meritocracy relate to education?

Answer 10

-education claims to be meritocratic but schools discriminate in favour of the M/C eg formal language
-hidden curriculum lowers working class ambitions

Question 11

what are some contrasting views on the marxist perspective of religion?

Answer 11

-postmodernism - marxist fail to acknowledge that education can reproduce diversity, morrow and torres claim students create their own identities
-neo-liberals - chubb and moe - marxists fail to see that education has failed all social groups in terms of the global marketplace
-neo-marxism - giroux says WC dont passively accept their position, existence of anti-school subcultures shows this