Education

• Bowles and Gintis -

  Questionaires: personality traits were linked to similar ones in employees.

  Positives:

  • large sample (reliability and representatives)
  • established correlation
• criticism of Althusser, Bowles and Ginits:

  • Dennis Wrong (1980) that people cannot be 'socialised into conformity' people do not have a degree of control over their lives.
• Criticisms of Althusser, Bowles and Ginitis

  • neo-marxist argue against the idea of an ideological socialisation, and do not necessarily have false conciousness; they are kept in their place through low wages and low status jobs (the 'market discipline')
• Criticisms of Althusser, Bowles and Ginitis

  • Capitalism existed for 150 years before an established education system in the UK, so correspondence theory cannot fully explain the reason for the reproduction of capitalism.
  • The formal curriculum does teach critical thinking. E.g. religion, ethics, sociology.
• Criticisms of Althusser, Bowles and Ginitis

  • teachers do not necessarily carry out their allocatted ideological role. In fact, many teachers challenge the hegemony.
  • Constrained by structural imperative: demands by various groups and institutions.
• Tripatie system: three schools

  • Grammar
  • Tech School
  • Secondary modern
• Willis: 'learning to labour' (1977): 'Pressure from peer groups; differences across social classes'
• Mac An Ghail: Parnell School (1994): 'Pressure from peer groups; differences across social classes'
• Working class boys


  • 'real boys don't try hard at school'
  • More interested in dossing around
• Middle class boys


  • Try hard to succeed secretly
  • Publicly project an image of 'effortless achievement'
  • Pretend they aren't really making any effort
  • Smug when they do well
• Parnell school (1994)


  • Pressure from peer groups
  • Differences across social classes
• Working class boys


  • 'real boys don't try hard at school'
  • More interested in dossing around
• Working class boys referred to boys that wanted to do well

  • 'dickhead achievers'
  • 'queer'
  • 'gay'
• Middle class boys


  • Try hard to succeed secretly
  • Publicly project an image of 'effortless achievement'
  • Pretend they aren't really making any effort
  • Smug when they do well