Bowles & Gintis on Education

• The ‘long shadow of work’

• Reproduction of the workforce

• Hidden curriculum

How do schools do this?:

Correspondence Principle: School mirrors the world of work

• Punctuality

• Rewards/Sanctions

• Extrinsic motivations

• Divisions of students

• Hierarchies and power

• Privileges for conformity/status

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

Contemporary applications:

• Uniform policies

• Conservatives ‘teachers given power’

• Role of academies- closer links with work

• Apprenticeships and Vocational Education

Criticisms:

• 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?