Marxist Perspectives

Marxist Perspectives

1. ALTHUSSER: Ideological state apparatus

   • Education reproduces class inequality by transmitting it from gen. to gen. by failing each successive working-class generation of pupils.
   • Education legitimises class inequality by producing ideologies that disguise its true cause.

2. BOWLES AND GINTIS: Schooling in capitalist America

   • Argue that capitalism requires a workforce with attitudes, behaviour and personality-type suited to their role as alienated and exploited workers.
   • Education - reproduces obedient workforce - accepts inequality as inevitable.
   • Study: 237 NYC high school students, schools reward traits that would make a submissive, compliant worker.
     • Students who were independent and creative = lower grades.
   • CORRESPONDENCE PRINCIPLE: Close parallels between work and school. School prepares pupils for work.
     • Argues that the CP operates through the hidden curriculum.
       • Lessons are learnt instead of being directly taught = e.g pupils become more accustomed to accepting hierarchy and competition.
     • Hierarchies: teachers on top, bosses on top.
     • Alienation: Lack of control over education, workers lack of control over production.
     • Competition: Between students, between workers to get promotions.
     • Extrinsic satisfaction: From grades instead of an interest in subject studied, from money instead of job itself.
     • Fragmentation - of subjects, of tasks.
     • Levels of education - streams, year groups, levels of occupation.
     • School prepares w/c for a role as exploited workers.
   • MYTH OF MERITOCRACY:
     • Argues that meritocracy does not exist.
     • Justifies priviledge to the higher classes.

3. EVALUATION

   • POSTMODERNISTS: Criticise B&G - today's post-Fordist economy requires schools to provide a diff labour force.
     • Now reproduces diversity.
   • Willis account of the lads - romanticized, showed them as w/c heroes.
     • his study (12 boys) is likely to be unrepresentative, hard to generalise his findings.
   • MODERNISTS: MORROW AND TORRES: Marxists takes a 'first class approach' that ignores any other inequality except class.
     • Argues that society is more diverse = different inequalities.
   • FEMINISTS: MACDONALD - Argues that B&G ignores the fact that schools reproduces not only captialism but patriarchy as well.

4. WILLIS: w/c resists attempts to indoctrination (12 boys)

   • Uses marxist and interactionist approach.
   • Studied counter-culture: the lads, a group of 12 w/c boys.
     • Scornful of the conformist boys = ear oles
     • Own brand of humour - making fun of ear'oles and girls.
     • Similarity between anti-school subculture and shop-floor culture.
       • See manual work as superior, and intellectual work as inferior and effiminate.