Marxist Perspective On Education 343ch

Marxist Perspective on Education Education serves the interests of the powerful. It maintains their power, justifies their privileges and legitimizes their wealth.

Bourgeoisie



Education Proletariat

Bowles and Gintis  The major role of education in the capitalist societies

is the reproduction of labour power.

 Correspondence Principle – They argue that there is

a close correspondence between social relationships which governs social interaction in the work place and social interaction in the education system.

 Education is subservient to the needs of those who

controls the workforce- the owners of the means of production.

Hidden Curriculum  According to Bowles and Gintis in order for capitalism to

succeed, it requires a hard working, docile, obedient and highly motivated workforce which is too divided to challenging authority.

 The education system helps to achieve these objectives

through the hidden curriculum

 The Hidden Curriculum consists of those things that

pupils learn through the experiences of attending school rather than the stated objectives of such institutions.

The hidden curriculum shapes the workforce by: Creating an unimaginative and unquestioning workforce that can be easily manipulated by employers. 2. Encouraging and acceptance of hierarchy. 3. Motivated by external rewards (qualifications; wages) 4. Fragmentation of school subjects; fragmentation of the workforce. 1.

 According to Bowles and Gintis the formal

curriculum corresponds to the needs of capitalist employers.  Education



Surplus of skilled labour

competition

Low wages

 Legitimation of inequality- By making society appear

fair and just, class consciousness does not develop and the stability off society is not treated

Myth of Meritocracy  Bowles and Gintis disagree with the functionalist

who see capitalist societies as meritocratic. They believe that class background is the most important factor influencing level of attainment.  The idea that we all compete on equal is an

illusion. The education system disguises the myth of meritocracy. The children of the wealthy tend to obtain higher qualification and better jobs regardless of thier abilities.

IQ, educational attainment, meritocracy  No relationship between IQ and academic

qualifications.  Direct relationship between educational attainment and family background.  Based on their findings they argued that the educational system does not function as a meritocracy.  The main factors ing occupational reward were the individuals class, ethnicity and gender rather than their educational attainment.

 They

conclude that the education system reproduces inequality. They reject the functionalist perspective of the relationship between education and stratification.( parsons, Davis and Moore)

 Refer to text for Criticisms of Bowles and Gintis

Marxism summarised  Education reproduces the

inequalities and social relations of production of Capitalist Society.  Education serves to legitimate

these inequalities under the guise of Meritocracy.

Louis Althusser

 Althusser believed that education socialises

working class children into accepting their subordinate status to the middle class.  Education conveys the ideology of the ruling class.  Education prepares individuals for the world of work, in order to accept their position in a capitalist society.

Ivan Illich (173)  Schools kill creativity, insist on conformity, and offer

indoctrination into capitalistic society.  Children learn to accept authority in an unthinking

fashion and this leads them to accept government dictats in the same way.

Paul Willis (1977)

Resistance is futile

 Did an ethnography of twelve anti-school boys ‘the

lads’  These boys rejected school and other children within it, presenting themselves as superior  Willis claims that working class children choose to fail in school as a rejection of capitalism  Their rejection of school is an act of resistance

Two Marxist viewpoints  Traditional Marxist

 Neo- Marxism

Louis Althusser

Paul Willis

Schools on messages that people accept without question. They are socialised into accepting capitalism

Children can see through the ideology, but it doesn’t matter. The reality is low pay work, poverty and oppression regardless.

What are the strengths of Marxism?

It points out how ideology is transmitted within schools via the hidden curriculum.  It recognises conflict of interest in schools; not everyone shares values.  It points out the inequalities of both opportunity and outcome in the system 

And the weaknesses?  It assumes teachers are unaware of class dynamics

and are all middle class agents  Many working class children do succeed in the education system  It overemphasises class and ignores other structural inequalities: ethnicity and gender