Althusser on Education

Althusser: State apparatuses

• The ruling class looks to control the masses through different apparatuses

• Repressive state apparatus

  • Physical control, coercion

  • Police, military courts

• Ideological state apparatus

  • Control over thoughts, beliefs and ideas

  • Education, religion, media

What does the ideological state apparatus do?

• Teaching students the necessary skills for employment

• Reproduces the dominant ideology of the ruling class

• Reproduces and legitimised inequality

How do schools achieve this?

• Fragmented curriculum

• Basic skills- literacy, numeracy

• Curriculum based on ruling-class values- history, literature, music

• Myth of meritocracy

Contemporary applications:

• The national curriculum is split into distinct subjects

• Students are to study for passing grades in English and Maths until 18

• Changes to the curriculum under the coalition government

• Growth mindset

Criticisms:

• Functionalist views- agree with Marxist ideas, but suggest that they are beneficial for society

• Limited empirical evidence for Althusser’s ideas

• Postmodernists would suggest education is one way of expressing ability in contemporary society

• Deterministic: More children from manual labour backgrounds going into HE than ever before- still only 9%