marxist sociologists for education

Question 1

Louis Althusser (Marxist)

ideological state apparatus

Answer 1

Main Idea: Education is an Ideological State Apparatus (ISA) that reproduces class inequality and legitimises capitalist values.

AO3 Criticism: Ignores how students can resist indoctrination—many don’t passively accept school values.

Question 2

Bowles and Gintis (Marxists)

correspondence principle

Answer 2

Main Idea: Developed the Correspondence Principle—school mirrors the workplace to prepare pupils for exploitation under capitalism.

AO3 Criticism: Too deterministic—assumes students have no agency and always accept the system.

Question 3

Bowles and Gintis – Myth of Meritocracy (Marxists)

Answer 3

Main Idea: Education promotes the false idea that success is based on ability and effort, when it’s really based on class background.

AO3 Criticism: Critics argue meritocracy does exist to some extent—some working-class students do succeed.

Question 4

Paul Willis (Neo-Marxist)

the lads

Answer 4

Main Idea: Studied 12 working-class ‘lads’ who rejected school values but still ended up in working-class jobs—showing how resistance can still reproduce inequality.

AO3 Criticism: Small sample and focused only on males—lacks generalisability and ignores gender/ethnicity.

Question 5

Bourdieu (Marxist)

cultural capital

Answer 5

Main Idea: Middle-class students succeed because schools value their cultural capital, and education system gives them symbolic capital.

AO3 Criticism: Difficult to measure cultural capital precisely; may exaggerate its impact on achievement.