Marxist views of Education Flashcards

A neo-Marxist who developed structural Marxist ideas, suggesting social institutions shape behaviour.

Controls the masses through coercion and force, e.g., police, military, judiciary.

Controls the masses through ideology, e.g., education, religion, and media.

The ruling class's ideas that are reproduced and legitimised through institutions like education.

The false belief that success is based on hard work and ability, ignoring structural barriers for the working class.

Subjects taught in isolation, limiting critical thinking and understanding of society.

Working-class students feel excluded due to lack of representation in curriculum and culture.

Functionalists argue education promotes social solidarity; postmodernists highlight alternative pathways to success.

Marxists who argued education reproduces the workforce for capitalist society through the hidden curriculum.

Implicit lessons taught in schools that prepare students for roles in the workforce, e.g., punctuality and hierarchy.

The idea that school mirrors the workplace, e.g., hierarchies, rewards, sanctions, and extrinsic motivations.

The false belief that success is based on ability and effort, ignoring structural inequalities favouring middle/upper classes.

Bowles and Gintis argue role allocation is unfair, favouring cultural characteristics of middle/upper classes over ability.

Bowles and Gintis suggest school uniforms mirror workplace dress codes, reinforcing conformity.

Education reforms like apprenticeships and BTECs align schools more closely with workplace needs.

Functionalists argue education benefits society broadly; critics question whether students passively conform.

Neo-Marxist who studied working-class boys' resistance to the education system and its role in reproducing inequality.

Willis' ethnographic study of 12 working-class boys, examining their anti-school subculture and rejection of meritocracy.

Willis used unstructured interviews and non-participant observation to study working-class boys in the Midlands.

A group of working-class boys who rejected school norms, valuing manual labour over academic achievement.

A rebellious group that rejects school values, prioritising behaviours like pranks, smoking, and skipping lessons.

Willis argued working-class boys demonstrated agency, rejecting indoctrination and false class consciousness.

Despite rejecting meritocracy, the lads still ended up in working-class jobs, supporting Marxist ideas of inequality reproduction.

Criticism of Willis' methods, suggesting the lads may have acted up in his presence to gain peer status.

Teachers may attach negative labels to working-class boys, impacting their achievement and reinforcing anti-school subcultures.

Willis was criticised for portraying the lads as working-class heroes, potentially affecting the objectivity of his research.

French Marxist philosopher who developed the cultural reproduction model, explaining how education reproduces inequality.

Bourdieu's theory that education reproduces inequality through cultural capital, habitus, and field.

The tastes, attitudes, and attributes shaped by socialisation, including family background, social class, and culture.

The social context in which an individual's habitus operates, often structured by middle-class norms and values.

The value of an individual's cultural knowledge, which influences their success in different fields, such as education.

Recognition and status gained from possessing cultural capital that aligns with middle-class values in education.

The rejection of working-class habitus in education, leading to disadvantage and reinforcing inequality.

Elaborated code used in education favours middle-class students, disadvantaging working-class students who use restricted code.

School dress codes often reflect middle-class values, disadvantaging working-class students and imposing symbolic violence.

Middle-class preferences dominate curriculum content, disadvantaging working-class students with different cultural knowledge.

Working-class students gain symbolic capital from peers through branded sportswear but face symbolic violence in education.

Conflict between conforming to middle-class values in education and maintaining working-class identity, impacting self-esteem.

Found students with middle-class habitus at home (e.g., reading complex novels) achieved better in education.

Functionalists argue education is meritocratic, and cultural knowledge is necessary for societal success.

Critics suggest Bourdieu overemphasises the role of habitus, ignoring individual agency and other factors in achievement.