The Marxist

Perspective
on
Education
Bowles & Gintis
Three key functions education performs
for elites
1. School works in the interest of
Capitalist employers (The
correspondence principle
2. It reproduces class inequality
3. It legitimates class inequality
• Paul Willis: Learning to labour
• Evaluations of the Marxist perspective on
education
discussion
• Bowles and Gintis argue that school
& work are generally boring. Explain
what motivates people to remain in
these institutions.

• What is your interpretation of the

statement “privilege breeds
privilege?”
 RECAP OF
MARXISM
• Marxism is a structural conflict
theory
• The bourgeoisie have economic
power & use it to control other
institutions such as education
• The elite use education to control
the mass population & maintain
 Correspondence theory
• What we learn in school prepares us for future exploitation in
work.
School work
THE REPROduCTION OF CLASS
INEQUALITY
• Money determines how well children achieve significantly in
their education, not intelligence. Thus, privilege breeds privilege
• Class background as a factor influencing levels of attainment in
education
• Middle-class children achieve significantly higher results than
working-class children & go on to get better jobs.
• Class, race, and sex are factors for educational reward.
The legitimation of
class inequality
• Schools spread the ‘myth of meritocracy.
• In school, we learn that we all have an equal
chance to succeed & that our grades depend on
our effort & ability.
• If we fail, we believe it is our fault.
• This legitimates or justifies the system because
we think it is fair when in reality, it is not.
 ARGUMENTS & EVIDENCE
SUPPORTING MARXISM

• Persistent correlation between parental income & educational

achievement – the richer your parents, the better you do in
education
• Pupils going to fee-paying state/private schools are much more
likely to go to prestigious universities & get jobs like Doctors,
Engineers, etc.
• To support the legitimation of class inequality – pupils are
generally not taught about how unfair the education system is.
• To support the Ideological State Apparatus – surveillance has
increased the school’s ability to control students.
 Arguments & evidence
against marxism
• The disadvantaged group increased during the
lock-down, suggesting that when schools are open,
they reduce inequality
• There are many critical subjects taught at
university that criticizes elites (e.g., sociology)
• It is deterministic – not every child passively
accepts authority (Paul Willis)
• Some students rebel
Paul Willis: LEARNING TO LABOUR
• A classic piece of Participant Observation of 12 lads who
formed a counter-school culture
• Willis argued that they rejected authority & school & just
turned up to ‘have a laff’ (rejecting the correspondence
theory)
• However, they ended up failing & still ended up in working-
class jobs (so support the reproduction of class inequality)
TUTORIAL ACTIVITY
• Activity 4:
1. What claims do Bowles and Gintis make about differential outcomes in school?

2. Do you agree with Bowles and Gintis when they argue that neutrality, equality,
meritocracy, and impartiality in education do not exist? Explain your answer.

3. Do you think Bowles and Gintis' theory applies to South Africa's education
structure?