Education : Bowles and Gintis

• Bowles and Gintis

  The major role of education is to reproduce the labour power - a workforce of hard-working, submissive and disciplined people who accept their role in society and do not question the inequality.
• Bowles and Gintis

   This workforce is produced by:

  • The hidden curriculum - the school operates in the long shadow of work by preparing children for the working day and the working environment of the working class
  • Legitimising the inequality in the class structure
• Bowles and Gintis

  They argue that education does not offer a fair and equal chance for all and that class, gender and ethnicity will all affect the opportunities that are available to a child.
• Bowles and Gintis

   They suggest that meritocracy is a myth - children do not succeed if they work hard; they succeed it they own the cultural capital to access the education system.
• Bowles and Gintis

  The education system simply confirms the child's class of origin (the class they were born into and their class of destination (where they will end up).