Bowles & Gintis on Education

All notes taken from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Oa8CvzCkw

How did Bowles and Gintis view education?

• The ‘long shadow of work’

• Reproduction of the workforce

• Hidden curriculum

How do schools prepare students for work?

Correspondence Principle: School mirrors the world of work

• Punctuality

• Rewards/Sanctions

• Extrinsic motivations

• Divisions of students

• Hierarchies and power

• Privileges for conformity/status

How does education legitimises inequality?

• Opportunity and meritocracy are myths

• Education confirms working-class pupils will end up in working-class jobs

• The system gives advantages to those of middle-class backgrounds

What are the contemporary applications of education preparing students for work?

• Uniform policies

• Conservatives ‘teachers given power’

• Role of academies- closer links with work

• Apprenticeships and Vocational Education

What are the criticisms of schools preparing students for work?

• Functionalists agree with skills for employment but suggest this is for the benefit of society

• Do all students become passive and unthinking puppets?

• Are the workers being produced equipped with the necessary skills for employment?