WHO said WHAT and WHEN? Revision (2): Marxism

Marxism & Education EDUCATION LEGITIMISES INEQUALITY THROUGH IDEAOLOGY. 1. Education prepares children for work. 2. Education justifies inequality. 3. Education passes on ruling class ideology and supports capitalism.

Marxism & Education WHO WHAT WHEN Althusser “ideological state apparatus” 1970’s… tool of capitalism produces a docile and obedient workforce

Marxism & Education WHO WHAT WHEN Bowles and Gintis Link between school work and adult work Acceptance of hierarchy… Boring work… Subservience = reward

Marxism & Education Willis (1977): anti-school subculture Bourdieu (1980’s...): cultural capital* * Apply this concept to the middle class

Marxism & Education Marxism suggests that people are passive, thus education conditions them to conform to the rules of the elite classes… Is this true? Doesn’t this mean that people are incapable of individual thought?

Marxism & Education Education reinforces inequality. Inequality exists. GET OVER IT! Don’t most people accept inequality? Everyone knows that society isn’t fair, so why complain?

Functionalism and Marxism are both structural Both approaches look at society as a whole… They ignore social interaction (with the exception of Willis)… Q: What is the difference between structural and interactionist views of society?

Don’t forget feminism… Feminism broadly suggests that the education system is patriarchal…

Don’t forget feminism… Does education reinforce gender differences? …surely state policy has dealt with this…?