Marxists views on education Flashcards
Who’s the 3 key marxists in the education topic?
Althusser, Bowles & Gintis and Paul Willis
Whats the general view from marxists on education?
It creates social class inequality and the education system is based on ruling class norms and values which exploit the WC and maintain capitalism.
What are the two forms of control used ti maintain capitalism? (produced by Althusser)
1) The repressive state apparatus
2) The ideological state apparatus
What is the ideological state apparatus (ISA)?
Institutions that help maintain capitalism by controlling peoples ideas, beliefs and values
Why is the education system an important ideological state apparatus?
It performs two functions:
1) legitimises class inequality by producing ideologies that persuade workers that these inequalities are ‘normal’ + inevitable
2) reproduces class inequality through transmission of norms and values
What did Bowles and Gintis focus on?
The myth of meritocracy
What did Bowles & Gintis find during their study of a schooling in capitalist America?
Students were rewarded for characteristics that would later lead to a submissive and compliant worker
What is the correspondence principle? (Bowles & Gintis)
Refers to the parallels between school and the workplace - operating through the hidden curriculum - preparing students for later exploitation and inequality
What did Paul Willis’ study of 12 working class boys show?
WC pupils can resist such attempts to indoctrinate them
What were two examples of qualitative research used by Willis?
-Unstructured interview
-Participant observation
What did he find out about the ‘Lads’?
They formed a lad counter-culture (similar to the shop floor culture of manual labourers)
What did the ‘lads’ call the conformist boys in school? and why did they act this way?
‘Ear’oles’ as a way of being disruptive and ‘taking the piss’
What were the consequences of these counter-cultures?
-Leads boys into lower paid jobs as it ensures failure to gain qualifications
-Don’t expect satisfaction from their work and are good at finding diversions to cope with the boredom - similar to how they did in school
This ensures that capitalism will always have workers to perform its jobs
What are some evaluation points of the Marxist perspective?
-Bowles and Gintis view is too deterministic and suggests pupils don’t have free-will -failing to explain why some reject indoctrination
-Willis romanticises the ‘lads’ and doesn’t acknowledge their anti-social behaviour and sexist attitudes
-Ignores other kinds of inequality (ethnicity, gender etc)
-Postmodernists (Morrow and Torres) argue society is now more diverse and accepting of a range of norms and values
