Using information from the items and elsewhere, assess the Marxist view that education benefits the ruling class

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Susannah Kitchen                19/11/07

Using information from the items and elsewhere,

assess the Marxist view that education benefits the ruling class

Marxism is a structuralist perspective with the economy as its foundation.  As such, the Marxist view focuses on the idea that it is the economy that drives the rest of society and in relation to education, it is suggested by the Marxist idea that education benefits the ruling class by weaving ruling class values into the education system.

One of the main ways Marxists, and in particular Althusser, argue that this occurs is through what is known as the hidden curriculum; that is, values and attitudes that we learn in school as opposed to the material we are actively taught.  Marxists argue that what we encounter in the so called hidden curriculum prepares us for the world of work for example through hierarchies and obedience to those who are above us in them.  This almost conditions us to the idea of either having someone to report to or obey or having people who do those things to us depending on our position, which benefits the ruling class as on a very basic level it ensures acceptance for these methods later in the world of work.  However, it is also suggested that students learn an element of powerlessness in this way as they are rarely given a voice, whilst it is arguable that in the world of work and indeed as adults, a person does get to have more say in what goes on around them.

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The hidden curriculum goes beyond this and also suggests an acceptance of inequality and that some students are brighter than others, preparing them to accept this view in society too.  Whether this is factually true or not is almost irrelevant as children such as “The Lads” in Item B believe it to be so, thus condemning themselves to their own subculture where not working in class becomes the norm, and inevitably, as suggested by Paul Willis’ study, a future of working on factory floors.  In the past, this would benefit the ruling class as suggested by Marxists because there ...

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