Assess the contribution of Marxism to our understanding of the Role of Education Sociologists argue that Education has different functions amongst society. Functionalists would argue that Education is a good thing and that it prepares younger generations for life in the work place; however Marxists would argue that education justifies social inequality and prepares working class people for working class jobs. Marxists argue that Education creates the ‘Myth of Meritocracy’, where pupils are taught to believe that social mobility is possible in society; however in reality schools are educating working class students for working class jobs. With the exception of a few, education confirms individual’s class of origin as their class of destination. Class inequalities are reproduced and education does not provide a means of social mobility.
One way the family serves capitalism is the socialisation of the young into the ruling class ideology. They see the family as an institution which serves and maintains the position of the ruling class. Marxists point out is that families socialise children in to an idea of hierarchy and inequality. An example of this is when parent’s power over children making them accustom to the idea that there is always someone above or better than them and they will have to obey there orders. This leads them to the working life where you work under capitalists and accept orders from superior employers.
I shall asses points for and against this argument and conclude. Karl Marx (a Marxist sociologist) believes that the education system preforms two main functions in a capitalist society. Firstly, Marx believes the education system reproduces the inequalities and social relations of production of capitalist society. In contrast, the government claim that the education system provides equality and education to all which surely would not serve to maintain a capitalist society. Marx’s first point suggests that education surely does not provide equality, this is for reasons being that education is a meritocratic institution that only benefits the student which conform with the desired qualities, such as doing as they are told and being high academic achievers.
Last but not least, I would like to give examples and give my point of view on the word sociology, such as what does it mean to me! First, I would like to define and explain what sociology means to me! Sociology explores people and society. It examines our social institutions; our families, the state and social relationships like gender and ethnicity, to help make sense of how we both see and interpret our rapidly changing world. Sociology examines how our behavior individually and in groups is influenced by social processes and what that means.
In Ruby Paynes opinion, teachers can change a low income students life just by establishing mutual respect. The teacher needs to care about the student and be sure to give the student the necessary skills to advance throughout life. This is somewhat like one of the education theories, symbolic interactionist theory. Symbolic interactionists limit their analysis of education to what they directly observe happening in the classroom. They focus on how teacher expectations influence student performance, perceptions, and attitudes.
Using material from Item A and elsewhere assess different Marxist views of the relationship between crime and social class. Traditional Marxism sees capitalist society as divided into two classes: the ruling capitalist class (or bourgeoisie) who own the means of production, and the working class (or proletariat), who’s alienated labour the bourgeoisie exploit to produce profit. Marxism is a structural theory. It sees society as a structure in which the economic base (the capitalist economy) determines the shape of the superstructure, which is made up of all the other social institutions, including the state, the law and the criminal justice system. Their function is to serve ruling-class interests and maintain the capitalist economy.
“A Talk to Teachers”, James Baldwin, P. 123 – 129. Juxtaposition In Baldwin’s essay, A Talk to Teachers, James Baldwin is specifically addressing the teachers of New York City. Baldwin also argues that the main purpose of education is to equip a student with the ability to look at the world for his own selflessness. It is obvious that Baldwin encourages the motivation that America requires in order for an education reform to develop. This is due to the fact that although we are a world power, we fall behind our diversified peers academically.
Like Durkheim (a Functionalist), Marx believed it was possible to understand society scientifically and scientific knowledge would lead to a better society. However (unlike Durkheim), he believed capitalism would increase human misery before giving way to a classless, communist society, in which humans would be free to fulfil their potential. He believed that history would go through a series of base changes – primitive communism, ancient society, feudalism, capitalism and then communism. The organisation of production in a society shapes the nature of society – refers to this as the base/superstructure. According to Marx – in a capitalist society, the economic relationship of exploitation requires ideologies in the superstructure to cover up inequality – they are not innocent/neutral because they justify inequality and serve the interest of powerful groups.
Assess the view that the education system exists mainly to select and prepare young people for their future work roles One perspective that supports this is the functionalist view that secondary socialisation prepares children for work later on in life. They believe secondary socialisation does this as in a school environment you learn the norms and values of authority figures, for example, the teachers. Functionalists therefore believe that this can then later be applied in the work place as the norms and values are carried on however the authority figure role changes from teacher to boss. Generally, the text implies that primary socialisation isn’t enough in preparation for a large-scale society. Education, a secondary agency of socialisation