role of education

• • MARXISM-    OUTLINE TWO BELIEFS?    -Believes the education system reproduces and legitimates class inequality.   -The Educational role is to mirror the workplace and prevent class consciousness. WC slotted into accepting poorly paid jobs that are alienating.
• Myth of meritocracy-   Bowles and Gintis  reject Parsons view education is for everyone to achieve success equally- a ‘giant myth making machine’ as achievement is based on family n class background not ability or ed achievement.
• Hidden curriculum + Correspondence principle:

  BOWLES AND GINTIS

  All ‘lessons’  learnt in schools that are not directly taught. That conditions students to accept a hierarchy and work for extrinsic rewards.

  Correspondence principle-  parallels between school and workplace as examples. It operates through a hidden curriculum. Relationships in education mirror the workforce.
• Cohen: argues YOUTH TRAINING SCHEMES SERVE CAPITALISM

  teaches young workers not genuine job skills but rather values needed in a subordinate labour force. Lowers aspirations so they will accept low paid work so they will accept low paid work.
• Althusser- states education system two functions as an ISA is 1) reproduces class inequality gen to gen transmitting of class inequality.

  2) legitimates/ justifies through establishment of ideologies that disguise true cause to persuade workers to accept inequality as inevitable and deserving of their subordinate position in society making them less of a threat for capitalism.

  RSA- maintain rule of bourgeoisie by force or threat. Police army courts who use force to repress proletariat.
• INTERACTIONISM + MARXIST VIEW by WILLIS -  LEARNIN TO LABOUR WC pupils can RESIST such attempts to indoctrinate them. Willis focused on the way schooling serves capitalism but the meanings pupils give to this which enables them to resist capitalism.
• Lads counter culture WILLIS : using qualitative research methods participant observations and unstructured interviews of 12 WC boys and their transition from school-work.

  • Distinct counter culture: They dislike conformist boys in school “ear’oles” due to attentive listening, find school boring and meaningless. They reject its rules and its false sense of meritocracy.
  • This develops in manual work with sense of superiority over girls and effeminate earoles who aspire for non manual jobs.
• • WILLIS LEARNING TO LABOUR- pt2
  • Boredom makes them not aspire for satisfaction in tedious unskilled work.
  •  Rebellion ensures that they will end up in unskilled jobs by making their failure to gain worthwhile qualifications. By resisting the lads counter culture ensures they are destined for unskilled work that capitalism needs someone to perform.
• EVAL OF MARX VIEW-

  Postmodernists state we live in a POST FORDIST economy  where society is fragmented and diverse and production is customised for small specialist markets. That requires a different labour force where education requires diversity- not inequality.

  • Morrow and Torres all non class inequalities equally important. Education reproduces all inequalities.

  Same view by Connolly + other studies Mac an Ghaill- Mirza.
• Feminist critique of MARXISM: [Macdonald]- feminist! Argues schools reproduce patriarchy too, not capitalism solely. [Mcrobbie] AGAINST WILLIS- feminist! Females largely absent from Willis’ study. Willis’ study is unrepresentative due to small scale study not representing other pupils' experience and it would be a generalisation. 
• • Parsons particularistic values shift to universalistic meritocratic values. Link between the family and wider society which allows students to move from the ascribed status and particularistic values of the home to the meritocratic and universalistic values of wider society
• Durkheim-  school is society in miniature  preparing for wider society.

  Social solidarity- part of single ‘body’ instead of pursuing selfish desires.

  specialist skills- education teaches individuals skills required to perform their role in social division of labour.
• • Davis and Moore education as a device for ROLE ALLOCATION and selection into future work roles in society through assessing individuals aptitudes and abilities. 

  They argue inequality is necessary for only efficient members to be selected for important roles. Surgeon, airline pilot. Not everyone is equally talented- higher rewards for these jobs. Increased competition is good. ‘Sifts and sorts’ us on ability.
• Human capital- Blau and Duncan

  Modern economy uses human capital = workers skills and meritocratic education system does this best since it enables allocation to roles best suited to abilities
• Education system does not teach specialist skills as well as Durkheim claims.

  WOLF REVIEW OF VOCATIONAL EDUCATION: claims that high quality apprenticeships are rare and up to a third of 16-19 year olds are on courses that do not lead to higher ed or jobs.
• FUNCTIONALIST EVAL BY MARXISTS- Achievement is based on class background not ability. Bowles n Gintis myth of meritocracy. Althusser- only transmits dominant ideology not a process that instals shared values of society as a whole.
• EXTRA FUNCTIONALIST EVAL - Wrong- ‘over socialised view’ of people as mere puppets of society. Functionalists wrongly imply pupils passively accept things taught and never resist.

  New right perspectives- state fails to adequately prepare young people for work.
• NEW RIGHT

  State cannot meet people's needs and that people are best left to meet their own needs through the free market. Marketisation of education.
• [SIMILARITIES OF FUNC N NEW RIGHT]

  • People are more talented than others- naturally.
  • Favour meritocratic system of open competition and serving needs of economy through preparing young people for work.
  • Education socialises pupils into shared values competition and a sense of national identity eg- british values
• CHUBBS AND MOE- CONSUMER CHOICE

  State school in America failed due to 1- no producing of skills for economy.

  Found pupils low income perform 5% better in private than public.

  2- private schools better than state due to being answerable to consumers- parents

  3- no equal opportunity and fails needs of the disadvantaged groups.

  Voucher system where each family buys school education of their choice. Market in state education. Control shifted to the consumer. As vouchers become schools main income source.
• Importance of market forces in education but two key roles of state

  • leagues tables and ofsted published reports for consumers

  -schools transmit shared culture- national curriculum for single cultural heritage
• new right eval: EVALUATION-

  • Gewirtz and Ballargue that competition between schools benefit middle class who can use their cultural economic capital to succeed and gain access to desirable schools.

  Real cause of inequality is social inequality and lack of funding of state schools not the involvement of state control…

  Contradiction of New Rights support for parental choice and state then imposing national curriculum on all schools.

  Marxists- education does not create shared national culture but only shared dominant culture of the ruling class.