STARTER: 3 WAYS IN WHICH EDUCATION IS FAIR . . . 3 WAYS IN WHICH EDUCATION IS UNFAIR . . . Is there a “hidden curriculum” – types of behaviour that are taught implicitly in schools? Outline 3 of these.

Marxist Theory of Education: Recap the basics of Marxist Theory. The main role of education is to produce an efficient, submissive, obedient workforce to help maintain the unequal capitalist society (structure) i.e. Education benefits the R/C. Education is an ideological tool that controls the W/C. Education will only be fair once the W/C have instigated a revolution & communism replaces capitalism. The main Marxist thinkers here are: Bowles & Gintis (1976) Althusser (1970) Willis (1977)

Athusser(1970) Education as an Ideological State Apparatus Althusser takes a theoretical approach to education i.e. his work is not based on research. He argues that the W/C are controlled by the Ruling Class through 2 types of ‘Apparatus’: Physical control through institutions such as the justice system & the military. Repressive State Apparatus: The more successful the I.S.As are at passing on R/C Dominant Ideology, the less work the R.S.As have to do. Control over the way the W/C think. These apparatus pass on Dominant Ideology (no physical force is used). This is done through institutions such as the family, religion & education. The R/C pass on their ideas & beliefs. Ideological State Apparatus:

The education system passes on Ruling Class ideology & teaches basic skills needed to perform within a capitalist society. The W/C are essentially forced to fail & end up taking up low status, low paid, alienating work roles. The R/C ‘go to the top of the pile’ & go on to university where they are trained to fill their R/C roles. Meritocracy is a Myth that has to be constantly reinforced so that inequalities are justified (False Class Consciousness)

Bowles & Gintis (1970) ‘Schooling in Capitalist America’ (Education & the Long Shadow of Work) Bowles & Gintis researched schools in the USA & concluded that the role of education is the reproduction of the workforce. This is often referred to as Correspondence Theory as they believe that there is a link between Education & the world of Work. Education is a ‘Myth Making Machine’ designed to justify inequality by promoting the idea that failure is due to lack of hard work rather than injustices & inequalities within the capitalist society i.e.:

Bowles & Gintis argue that Education creates a Surplus of Skilled Labour… > Children are taught more than they need to know for most jobs i.e. they are over educated. > This maintains a high rate of unemployment which helps control the workforce. > The W/C become scared of losing their jobs & being replaced meaning they are willing to work for low wages & less likely to take industrial action & strike. > Bowles & Gintis agree with Althusser that Meritocracy is a Myth. Bowles & Gintis argue that the W/C are being groomed into efficient, obedient, submissive workers. This is mainly through ‘The Hidden Curriculum’……..

The Hidden Curriculum: Bowles & Gintis believe that the R/C are able to manipulate the W/C through the hidden curriculum. This consists of things that pupils learn Informally for their experience of going to school on a day to day basis. The hidden curriculum teaches the W/C the values needed within employment…… Through rewarding ‘Acceptable’ behaviour & punishing ‘Unacceptable’ behaviour 1) Subservience: 2) Motivation: Through External Rewards e.g. certificates / wages 3) Acceptance of Hierarchy: Teaching ‘Roles’, authority & power relationships 4) Fragmentation of Knowledge: Fragmented curriculum prepares individuals for fragmented economy. 5) Legitimisation of Inequality: The Myth of Meritocracy.

Criticisms of Bowles & Gintis: > They cannot actually prove the ‘Hidden Curriculum’ exists. > If education prepares people for work then why do we have work-based training programmes & apprenticeships > Not all students within education are obedient & passive (See Willis 1970) > They ignore other factors such as gender & ethnicity. It can also be argued that not everyone passively accepts the rules, regulations and ideology that the education system passes on. This can be seen in the work of Willis (1970) who found that individuals have a lot of control over their own education i.e. success / failure is not simple forced upon people.

Willis (1970): ‘Learning to Labour’. Willis does not believe that there is a simple relationship between education & work (like Bowles & Gintis). He argues this view is to deterministic & simplistic. Willis conducted a study of 12 W/C ‘Lads’ in their final year of school using unstructured interviews & observations He found that these lads had a Counter School Culture which directly opposed the values of the education system (& capitalism) e.g. subservience, motivation & acceptance of hierarchy. The lads actively chose to fail so that they could land their ‘dream jobs’ of manual labour in a factory with their friends & as little responsibility as possible.

This therefore acts as evidence that suggests that education does not always provide the ideal workers for capitalism, the boys to an extent could see through the values being transmitted. People are simply ‘Passive’ to the system. It could be argued however that ultimately the W/C lads ended up in W/C jobs and therefore the ‘system’ did it’s job of creating the workforce (although not necessarily a passive, obedient, efficient workforce). Criticisms of Willis: Small Sample (Unrepresentative / Cannot Generalise) Feminists argue that Willis ignores females in his study & suggest that his work tells us more about masculinities rather than social class. Willis ignores ‘conformist culture’ within education & only focuses on one small subculture. The lads could have exaggerated / lied.

(b) Suggest three ways in which Marxists see school as being similar to the world of work. (6 marks) JAN 2010 Asses the contribution of Marxism to our understanding of the role of education ( 20 marks )