Big Idea: In what ways would Marxists claim that the education system serves capitalism?

Marxist Perspectives on Education The BIG Idea Marxist Perspectives on Education Explore different Marxist views on the role of education. Outline studies by Willis and others that claim education can be said to legitimise and reproduce inequality. We are Learning to... In today’s lesson... ALL Be able to identify one or two ways in which education can be said to legitimise or reproduce inequality, using one or more key concepts. MOST Be able to identify a range of ways in which education can be said to legitimise or reproduce inequality, using key concepts and making reference to one sociological study. SOME Be able to identify a range of ways in which education can be said to legitimise or reproduce inequality, using key concepts and making reference to more than one sociological study. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvhDUnmeaMc SPEC: The role and functions of the education system, including its relationship to the economy and to class structure.

Marxist Perspectives on the Role of Education – Key Concepts Ideological state apparatus: Althusser The correspondence principle & the hidden curriculum: Bowles & Gintis The ‘myth of meritocracy’: BOTH So far we’ve looked at students as passive subjects of a system that exploits them for the needs of capitalism.

KEY CONCEPTS: counter-school culture; shop-floor culture. Paul Willis KEY CONCEPTS: counter-school culture; shop-floor culture. Perspective Marxist

Willis (1970): ‘Learning to Labour’. Willis combines Marxist ideas to Interactionist ideas (see ‘Social Class’ Topic) 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 (LINK TO METHODS) 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.

Counter school culture and shop floor culture Feeling superior to teachers Look down on conformist students No value to schoolwork Avoid doing work (skiving) Have a ‘laff’/distractions Win ‘symbolic space’ Sexist/racist/macho behaviour Manual work better than academic ‘cissy work’ Shop floor culture Feeling superior to bosses Look down on conformist workers No value to work Avoid doing work (skiving) Have a ‘laff’/distractions Win ‘symbolic space’ Sexist/racist/macho behaviour The value of manual work TASK: Start to complete the Willis Worksheet, using the PowerPoint Slides, and p.72-73 of the Textbook https://sociologytwynham.com/2008/12/27/willis-anti-school-subculture/

* SUMMARY OF THEORY: There isn’t a simple relationship between the economy and the education system; students are active participants – some of whom choose to fail. ‘The lads’ formed their own friendship group which had a counter-school culture which was against the values of the school and doing well. Teachers are *******s. I’ve gone for the last half term without picking up a pen. I’m well proud! Kids who work hard in school need kicking. Flooding the bogs was a particularly proud moment for me. They focused on ‘having a laff’ to cope with the boredom they felt at school & in work. But they clearly just try to cope with tedium and oppression instead of actively challenging it. Willis claimed they saw through the ‘myth of meritocracy’ and realised that they were destined for manual labour, so they developed their own ‘shop-floor culture.’ Willis also pointed out the irony of this attitude, which results in the unskilled labour that capitalist society requires.

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.

What was the effect of the hidden curriculum on Willis’s ‘lads’? There was no effect. The value system of the school was ignored – the ‘lads’ substituted their own value system based on ‘having a laff’. Why is Willis’s research an interpretivist critique of Marxism? Unlike traditional Marxists, Willis was interested in how the ‘lads’ in his study saw and interpreted the world around them. He noted that they actively sought out working class jobs and chose to ‘fail’ at school – they were not forced. Critics argue the Marxist sociologists of education have a simple view of decision-making and power in education. Why is this? As an ideological myth. A few working class pupils are allowed access to further and higher education to give the impression of equality of opportunity, which is false.

Why didn’t Willis look at people like me? RESEARCH METHOD: As well as drawing upon Marxist sociology, Willis used research techniques such as observations in class, recorded discussions, informal interviews and diaries. He focused on 12 working class lads in their last 18 months at school and their first few months at work. Why didn’t Willis look at people like me? WEAKNESSES: unrepresentative sample size which focuses only on male experiences.

Modern Study on Marxism & Education Archer et al. (2003) Higher education and social class. London, Routledge. Secondary research Working class groups have historically been excluded from participation in higher education. Though there has been an expansion of the system towards a more inclusive higher education, participation among people from working class groups has remained persistently low. Despite the expansion of higher education, people from the lower social classes and from ethnic minorities are not going into higher education in sufficient numbers. Therefore, class structure through occupation is reinforced.

PEEEL (4) – Assess the Claim that education reproduces and legitimates social class inequality. Point – e.g. “Something which supports the view that education reproduces and legitimates social class inequality…” Explanation – e.g. “…by this I mean…” Evidence / Examples – e.g. “…this is supported by X (study or theory), which showed…” Evaluation of point (weaknesses/strengths) – e.g. “…however on the other hand…” or “…this also links to…” Link back to the question – e.g. “…so this shows us that…”

Marxist Perspectives on Education The BIG Idea Marxist Perspectives on Education Explore different Marxist views on the role of education. Outline studies by Willis and others that claim education can be said to legitimise and reproduce inequality. We are Learning to... In today’s lesson... ALL Be able to identify one or two ways in which education can be said to legitimise or reproduce inequality, using one or more key concepts. MOST Be able to identify a range of ways in which education can be said to legitimise or reproduce inequality, using key concepts and making reference to one sociological study. SOME Be able to identify a range of ways in which education can be said to legitimise or reproduce inequality, using key concepts and making reference to more than one sociological study. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dvhDUnmeaMc SPEC: The role and functions of the education system, including its relationship to the economy and to class structure.

Homework Create a Revision Mind Map of Marxist & Functionalist theories on education, including all thinkers, and key concepts. Make sure you list evaluation points too (p.See textbook section on Functionalism & Marxism for additional evaluation points) These are the main two theories that will be assessed on the exam. In addition, New Right may come up as a shorter mark question too, so a short section on that will be a recommended supplement.