Marxist perspective

• what type of institution is education?


  superstructure to reproduce and legitimate to the unequal class relations
• what does the socialisation role do in education according to Marxists?

  instilling capitalist norms and values
• what does the allocation role do in society according to Marxists?

  slotting people into their occupational positions to reproduce existing social class inequalities.
• what is the vocational role in education according to Marxists?

  ruling class can instil capitalist norms and values in young people and provide the illusion of equality of opportunity.
• what do norms and values force people to accept?

  the status quo (inequality as the norm)
• what is Althussers theory called?

  ideological state apparatus.
• what does education cause according to Althusser?

  capitalist norms and values.
• what type of workforce does education create accepting to althusser?

  efficient and obedient.
• what is false class consciousness?


  the working class don’t realise the true extent of their explotation.
• what is another name for the working class?

  proletariat
• how are the proletariat controlled?

  ideologically (brainwashed) they think their exploitation is normal
• what does Althusser claim students are taught through the formal curriculum?

  to accept capitalist ideologies, curriculum is shaped and controlled by the ruling class to see capitalism as fair and natural.
• which theorists speak about the hidden curriculum?

  Bowles and Gintis
• what is the correspondence principle?

  doesn’t promote shared norms and values, promotes capitalist ones.
• what did Bowles and Gintis study and what did they find?

  studied 217 schools in New York and found that the teacher was quicker to reward conformist behaviour.
• how does education encouraging conformist behaviour help capitalism?

  creates obedient and efficient wage slaves, the classroom and workplace have a close relations Jo creating the correspondence principle.
• what is an example of school and the workplace having a close relationship?

  in schools, there is a hierarchy between students and teachers and in the workplace there is a hierarchy between the boss and the workers.
• what is Illich and Freire‘s theory?

  repression and control.
• what is the repression and control theory?

  schools are repressive institutions who reproduce inequality and create submissive working class workers, encouraging students to accept the inequalities
• how do schools oppress students?

  they control what time their lessons are, how they act in them, establishes and creates inequality as teachers have more power over students who must be obedient.
• who is a neo marxist who you can use as an evaluation?

  Paul Willis
• what does the neo Marxist Paul Willis say?

  claims that education doesn’t reproduce class inequalities because not all working class are obedient. many working class students produce anti school subcultures where they reject school and it’s rules.
• what is Bowles and Gintis allocation role theory?

  myth of Mertiocracy
• what is the myth of meritocracy?

  the process of allocation is not meritocratic, pupils are taught there is equal opportunity and access so it is based on the individual failing, so it transfers the blame onto the individual rather than inequalities.
• who created the theory ”social function of elimination“?

  Bourdieu
• what is the social function of elimination?

  individuals eliminate themselves from education e.g elite universities, as they have a fear they won’t ’fit in’. little material resources and education encourages them to be realistic and reasonable with education.
• what does vocational training do?

  teach you work related skills
• how does Cohen expand further on Bowles Gintis?

  they claim education prepares children to have appropriate attitudes to the workplace e.g obedience. passing on genuine job related skills so they will accept low paid jobs.
• what does Birdwell et al claim that evaluates Cohen?

  secondary schools focus on children who are destined for higher education, vocational qualifications often seen as lower status.

  schools fail to prepare teenagers for work offering logged careers advice or help finding suitable jobs.