marxism in education

• bowels and gintis (b&g) believed that the education system reproduced class inequalities
• b&g beloved in the myth of meritocracy that the education legitimises class inequalities
• b&g believed int he hidden curriculum which taught pupils how to prepare for the working world in which the working class serves the upper class
• passive subservience, acceptance of hierarchy and the motivation of external rewards, such as pay and promotion were all example of the hidden curriculum
• Paul willis had an experiment named "learning to labour"
• willis critisised the hidden curriculum and said that rebellious students were an example of children resisting it, creating counter school culture
• willis said that children formed subculture to rebel against the authority of schools
• davis and Moore states that the role of the education system is role allocation to sift and sort through the population to ensure that people have correct jobs, as it wa thought that unequal rewards motivated people
• b&g discovered the ocrresponadance principle between work and school
• marxists believe the education system works in the interest of the ruling class
• the bourgeoise want their own values and beliefs to be passed on to future generations
• bourgeoisie control the means of production so they can influence what is taught at school
• schools are used by the bourgeoise to maintain social inequality
• marxists believe that the education system blinds the public to class inequalities through meritocracy to suggest academic success is possible for all
• this is reinforced as the wc do suffer from material and cultural dep., higher number of elite proffesions were private educated and private school still exist and give greater opportunity
• marxists beliefs are too deterministic as not all pupils mould to capitalism and many pupils are aware of class disadvantages
• the disadvantage gap is still prevalent today as those from middle class backgrounds will outperform the working class at GCSE
• middle class are more likely to take academic a levels as those from poorer backgrounds
• children from poorer arras were more likely to have changed career path due to covid, suggesting school did have a positive effect when open
• marxists suggest that the working class suffer from false class consciousness as they don't know that they are being exploited
• marxists beliefs ignore inequalities of ethnicity and gender
• Althusser said that education was a form of ideological state apparatus as it produces a docile and obedient workforce
• marxism ignores social interactions