Marxism

Question 1

education is an important component of ……

Answer 1

the superstructure of capitalist society

Question 2

why is the education system an ideological state apparatus according to ALTHUSSER?

Answer 2

• reproduces class inequality by transmitting it from generation to generation by failing each successive generation of W/C.
• legitimates class inequalities by producing ideologies that disguise its true cause. Persuades workers to accept their subordinate position in society by making school appear meritocratic. Makes them less likely to challenge/threaten capitalism

Question 3

According to BOWLES and GINTIS, what is the role of the education system in capitalist society?

Answer 3

to reproduce an obedient workforce that will accept inequality as inevitable

Question 4

what did BOWLES and GINTIS’ stidy of NY high school students find?

Answer 4

schools reward the kind of personality traits that make for a submissive, compliant worker. Students who showed independence and creativity tended to gain low grades. - helping to produce the obedient workers capitalism needs.

Question 5

education stands….

Answer 5

in the long shadow of work

Question 6

what is the correspondence principle according to BOWLES and GINTIS?

Answer 6

the parallels between school and the workplace.

Question 7

how does the correspondence principle operate?

Answer 7

through the hidden curriculum - the everyday workings of the school e.g. pupils become accustomed to hierarchy and competition

Question 8

how does schooling prepare students for their role as exploited workers of the future?

Answer 8

prizing the characteristics that the capitalist system does e.g. obedience.

Question 9

what are some examples of the correspondence principle?

Answer 9

• hierarchy of authority among teacher > hierarchy of authority in the workplace
• alienation through students’ lack of control over education > alienation through workers’ lack of control over production
• extrinsic satisfaction from grades>work > extrinsic satisfaction from pay>job
• fragmentation and compartmentalisation of knowledge into unconnected subjects > fragmentation of work through division of labour into small, meaningless tasks

Question 10

how does education prevent an uprising against capitalism according to BOWLES AND GINTIS?

Answer 10

myth of meritocracy justifies the privileges of the higher classes, making it seem they gained them through succeeding in fair competition. Persuades W/C to accept inequality as legitimate

Question 11

what does WILLIS combine with marxism?

Answer 11

interactionism

Question 12

Who did WILLIS study?

Answer 12

12 W/C boys ‘the lads’ as they made transition from school > work

Question 13

How did the lads behave?

Answer 13

flout the school’s rules and values e.g. smoking, drinking and disrupting lessons
formed distinct counter-culture

Question 14

what did WILLIS see the lad’s counter-culture as similar to?

Answer 14

shopfloor culture of male manual workers.
Both see intellectual work as inferior/effeminate
they identified strongly with manual work

Question 15

what irony did WILLIS identify about the lads?

Answer 15

by helping them to resist school’s ideology, the counter-culture ensures they are destined for the unskilled work capitalism needs someone to perform

Question 16

how did the lads counter-culture help them slot into inferior jobs?

Answer 16

• accustomed to boredom and finding ways of amusing themselves - good at finding diversions to cope with tedium of unskilled labour
• acts of rebellion guarantee they will end up in unskilled jobs

Question 17

what Neo-marxist criticises the marxist view on education?

Answer 17

GIROUX

Question 18

what does GIROUX claim?

Answer 18

W/C don’t passively accept their fate and become compliant workers. The existence of anti-school subcultures, truancy and exclusion show that the the hidden curriculum and the correspondence principle are failing

Question 19

what social democrats believe Marxists exaggerate the effect of the ed system on W/C?

Answer 19

HASLEY, FLOUD and MARTIN

Question 20

why do social democrats believe the ed. system isn’t as detrimental to the W/C as suggested by Marxists?

Answer 20

gov. intervention in the form of the comprehensive system, the expansion of university places and welfare policies has improved the chances of W/C to escape being allocated to manual labour.

Question 21

what claims does SAUNDERS make to critique Marxists?

New Right

Answer 21

M/C ed. success is due to genetic differences in ability. W/C children inherit a genetic deficit in regards to intelligence and ability.

Question 22

according to Neo-liberals, what have marxists failed to see?

Answer 22

that state intervention has failed ALL social groups

Question 23

why do postmodernists criticise the correspondence principle?

Answer 23

Marxist view is outdated.
class divisions are no longer importnt and the economy is based on flexible specialisation
post-fordist system requires a skilled, adaptable workforce able to use advanced tech.
post-Fordism calls for education that encourages self-motivation and must provide lifelone retraining because rapid tech changes make existing skills obsolete.
education reproduces diversity not inequality

Question 24

example of how Marxists disagree with one another about how reproduction and legitimation take place?

Answer 24

BOWLES and GINTIS - deterministic view (fails to explain why many pupils reject school’s values)
WILLIS combines marxist and interactionist approaches, showing how pupils may resist the school and still enter W/C jobs.

Question 25

why is WILLIS criticised?

Answer 25

account of the ‘lads’ romanticises them despite their W/C and anti-social behaviour
small scale study = risky to generalise

Question 26

why do MORROW and TORRES criticise marxists for taking a ‘class first’ approach?

Answer 26

society is now more diverse and non-class inequalities such as ethnicity and sexuality are equally important.