Marxism and education

What research methods did Willis use to study working-class boys?

What research methods did Willis use to study working-class boys?

How did Willis view working-class students in relation to school ideology?

He argued they could resist indoctrination rather than passively accepting it.

Who were the “12 lads” in Willis’ study?

A group of working-class boys who found school boring and created a counter-school culture.

What was the lads’ attitude toward work and education?

They saw manual work as superior and intellectual work as inferior/effeminate.

What similarity did Willis note between school counter-culture and shopfloor culture?

Both valued manual work over intellectual work, reinforcing working-class identity.

Why did Willis argue the lads were prepared for unskilled labour?

They were used to boredom, skilled at finding diversions, and expected little satisfaction from work.

What was the irony in Willis’ findings?

The lads’ resistance to school actually guaranteed their failure and destined them for the very unskilled jobs capitalism needs.

Why is Willis’ work praised compared to traditional Marxism?

It rejects the deterministic view of structuralist Marxism and combines Marxism with interactionism.

What is a limitation of Willis’ sample?

He only studied 12 lads, making it small, unrepresentative, and hard to generalise.

What key aspect of school culture does Willis ignore?

The ‘conformist culture’ of students who accept school values.

What do feminists criticise about Willis’ study?

It ignores females, focusing on masculinity rather than social class.

Why might Willis’ findings be unreliable?

The lads may have exaggerated or lied during interviews.

How has Willis been accused of romanticising the lads?

He presents them as working-class heroes despite their anti-social and sexist behaviour.

where does power in society come from according to Marx and Engels

wealth- those who owned the means of production (money, land, machinery) were able to form a wealth powerful ruling class, the bourgeoisie. 

what did Marx think the main role of education was 

to produce an efficient, submissive, obedient workforce or help maintain the unequal capitalist society.
education is an ideological tool that controls the working class. education will only be fair once the working class have instigated a revolution and communism replaces capitalism. 

what did Althusser believe education was apart of

ideological state apparatus (ISA)

what is the ideological state apparatus (ISA)

the ISA controls peoples ideas and values and maintains the power of the ruling class
the church used to have the power but now we get it from education, people just accept it

what two functions did Althusser believe education had

• to justify and reproduce inequality

• schools prepare pupils for their roles in the workforce, all trained workers and they are taught to accept their future exploitation 

what does teachers having power over children entail

by maintaining power over children, teachers are training children to become subservient and docile workforce who will not challenge the power of capitalism. they make children into puppets 

how does the education system reproduce inequality 

• the education system passes on ruling class ideology and teaches basic skills needed to perform within a capitalist society.  

• the working class are essentially forced to fail and end up taking low status, low paid, alienating work roles

• this is because the ruling class "‘go to the top of the pile’ and go on to university where they are trained to fill their ruling class roles. 

does education justify inequality? (AO3)

schools do have, school council,head boy/girls ect.

does education always reproduce inequality

there is a growing amount of WC students going to university

Key study: Bowles and Gintis

Bowles and Gintis studied 237 New York high school students, and found schools taught students the correct characteristics to meet the needs of the capitalist economy.  Schools reward students who are hard working, disciplined, submissive, obedient, etc. While students who show greater independence and creative thinking  are more likely to gain lower grades.  Bowles and Gintis concluded that the schools were producing an unimaginative and unquestioning workforce. 

flaws to the bowles and gintis key study

they studied New York children so culturally different. and it is outdated as it was in 1976

what is Bowles and Gintis- correspondence principle 

Bowles and Gintis belives school correspondence with work. 
e.g. in the hidden curriculum there is respecting authority- in school that is being polite to teachers, in the work place it is employees being expected to respect authority 

what is Bowles and Gintis ideas of the myth of meritocracy 

Bowles and Gintis believes we are lead to believe that education treats everyone equally and prevents the working class from questioning the system. they believe social class affects how well you do at school and therefore your future job and income. however the system disguises this fact leading us to believe that those with the highest income deserve to be in their position based on their ability and qualifications. 

criticism of Bowles and Gintis

• they cannot prove the hidden curriculum exists

• not everything in school mirrors the work place 

• now all students within education are obedient and passive 

• they ignore other factors like gender and ethnicity 

• some students do work hard and move up the social ladder through the education system: social mobility 

What "myth" do Marxists argue education exposes?

The myth of meritocracy – education serves capitalism by reproducing and legitimating class inequalities.

How do Postmodernists critique the Marxist view of education?

They argue Marxism is outdated, the correspondence principle is too simplistic, and class divisions matter less in a diverse, fragmented post-Fordist economy.

What do Postmodernists see instead of inequality in education?

Diversity and choice.

How do Feminists critique the Marxist view of education?

They argue schools reproduce patriarchy as well as capitalism

What did McRobbie point out about Willis’ study?

Females were absent, highlighting a gender bias.

Why is Willis’ study still important despite feminist criticism?

It became a model for studying other inequalities, including gender, ethnicity, and sexuality.

How do Bowles & Gintis explain education’s role in inequality?

Through a deterministic view: pupils passively accept indoctrination.

How does Willis challenge Bowles & Gintis?

He shows pupils can resist school, but still end up in working-class jobs.

What does Reynolds (1984) argue about education?

Some subjects, like sociology, encourage critical thinking, not just obedience.

Why is education not fully controlled by capitalists?

Local education authorities and teachers (e.g., in academies) retain some independence.