AWA: Academic Writing at Auckland

Egalitarian ideals of modern democratic society suggest that massed public schooling provides every individual an equal opportunity and access to education. This essay will argue that this claim is false and that socio-economic class greatly impacts educational attainment. It will draw on various neo-Marxist writers to help demonstrate the way in which the structures and culture in school reproduce the social conditions of individuals rather than being transformative.

The idea that massed public education strictly gives every child an equal opportunity and equal education is an ideological view of education. This ideological view of education produces ideas that public education will be able to solve inequality in society. This idea is dangerous and can be used as a way to ignore major social issues such as the fact that school can perpetuate, reproduce and repeat social inequality. Marx talks about ideology as theoretical ideas about society. In today’s society, ideology refers to certain ideas in society that tend to gloss over social issues such as social inequality (Small, 2013). Ideological views of education are dangerous because they ignore how socio-economic class can largely determine educational attainment.

Talcott Parsons sees school as a place of socialization, where children are trained to fulfill certain roles and structures of society (Parsons, 1959). This means that through school, children learn about the skills and expectations that are associated with different jobs. They learn how socio-economic position is associated with certain jobs, which produces expectations of possible future jobs. Individuals from a wealthy family and whose parents have high-income jobs are more likely to have high expectations of themselves. These expectations are likely to include doing well in school and pursuing a tertiary education and professional job. However, an individual from a low income family whose parents have low income jobs generally will not have the same high expectations of themselves as someone from a well to do family. Much research over many years indicates a correlation between socio-economic class and youth dropouts from school. Students from a low-income background are more likely to drop out which is then associated with higher drop out rates (Wilson et al., 2011). Parsons points out that secondary school is seen as the basic education that everyone receives and tertiary education qualification is what is associated with a higher occupational status. This means that through schooling, children are exposed to and learn the idea that the children who do well ins school will go on to do well in the future, but if you do not concentrate in school and get good grades, you will end up doing unskilled and menial jobs. Parsons believes that these ideas act as a form of selection where some individuals are set up, through socialization, to carry out menial jobs with a low income and other are set up to carry out professional jobs with a high income. In this way, education is a way that individuals’ social conditions are reproduced.

Samuel Bowles and Herbert Gintis were seen as far more radical than Talcott Parsons. They believed that education was directly correlated to the way a capitalist society is organised. In order to sustain capitalism, a large work force is required. Bowles and Gintis see school as a place to prepare students for a working life, which will benefit capitalist society. They drew on examples of the way in which school was organised to reflect how society was organised. For example, timetables are reflective of work schedules, teachers are like managers at work and grades are similar to wages. This is important because it suggests that rather than being transformative, education just prepares children for a working life. It helps to reproduce the conditions of society. When children are exposed to these capitalist ideas from a young age, they learn that it is the way things are and do not learn to question. Education should be about being critical of society and helping students change their economic position. Having classrooms and school reflect capitalist society does not allow for transformative, but rather it reproducing society. It is important to teach students to be critical and challenging by showing them alternative solutions to problems. Bowles’ and Gintis’ idea of education may seem pessimistic but they are very important because they help show that the egalitarian ideal of modern democratic education is a lie. They believe school reproduces social conditions and correlates directly to the way in which capitalist society is structured.

Antonio Gramsci looked at the way in which culture can impact educational attainment (1971). Culture is used to refer to two different things. The first way in which Gramsci talks about culture is cultural hegemony. This is when the dominant culture of society becomes embedded in institutions and accepted by citizens. Cultural hegemony is oppressive because minority and marginalized groups of society are often ignored or considered to be ‘the other’. This is relatable to education because if you feel a belonging to a certain group that is not the dominant culture of society, your beliefs and ideas may not be acknowledged or represented in your schooling. This can affect students of minority cultures because they will learn to see their own culture as ‘the other’ and that only the dominant culture as ‘normal’. The second way in which Gramsci talks about culture is the great works of art and literature such as Picasso or Shakespeare. Culture is important because it helps to critique human existence. Gramsci believed in a culturally rich education where students learn Shakespeare and works of art. He believed that this rich education should not only be available for the privileged children of society, but for all individuals regardless of their socio-economic class position. 

Pierre Bourdieu (1986) introduced the term ‘cultural capital’. He explained that middle class kids are more likely to have greater exposure to culture and therefore have more cultural capital. Culture can be accessed by going to free, public and accessible places or events such as the museum or the library. A child who is exposed to these sorts of places regularly from a young age has a higher exposure to culture and therefore more cultural capital. Although the library and museum are easily accessible to the public, middle class children are much more likely to visit and therefore have greater access to cultural capital (Bourdieu & Passeron, 1977). Higher cultural capital allows students to perform better at school and get along with teachers because they are familiar with the kind of language and actions they should use in different settings. For example, they will know how to be formal and what is appropriate for different social situations. Gramsci believed individuals of society should have the right to a rich education, which would help them to improve their position in society. He believed access to culture was necessary for a rich education. He saw cultural hegemony as oppressive as it helps dominates the minority cultures of society which helps reproduce social conditions of society.

Gramsci sees culture as significant as cultural hegemony acts as a way to dominate certain minority groups in society and keeps society in line, which helps benefit, the capitalist system. This means that socio-economic position of an individual can determine the type of education one gets. Gramsci argues that every student has the right to a rich and valuable education, which includes learning about culture such as great works of art and literature. This kind of education is usually only available to the privileged children of society. By making it universal and accessible to all, it will give working class children to change their position in society.

In Learning to Labour, Willis (1977) talked about the way in which individuals reproduce social conditions in schooling. Willis conducted an ethnographic study of young boys in the British schooling system. By interviewing students and sitting in class with them, he found the existence of a ‘lad culture’. In this ‘lad culture’ rebellion by skipping class or not doing homework is seen as cool. Students that were labeled as failures by the school saw themselves as ‘cool’ which creates an oppositional and rebellious student culture. The students who rebel believe they are acting against the oppressive school system and society, but they are actually supporting it. It works perfectly for a capitalist society because students are already placing themselves into certain roles such as the worker of society.  Rebelling and not taking school seriously lessens their chances of a higher education. Willis argues that it is at this point, where students decide to rebel, that they become working class men.

Of course, not all children who decide to rebel will be unsuccessful. However, if middle class children rebelled throughout their school life, their chances of future education would still be much higher. A writer and broadcaster, Michael Goldfarb helps to illustrate this point. “Plenty of my school fellows did just OK in high school, went to second-rank universities, where they majored in having a good time, crammed for the LSAT and squeezed into second-rank law schools or business schools. They emerged on the other side with a credential that allowed them to make a pretty good living without putting themselves out too much. A young man from an inner-city school in Philadelphia who took the same relaxed approach to study and career would never have made it to law school or business school” (Goldfarb, 2013). This emphasizes the way in which socio-economic or class position can impact educational attainment. Although Willis based his studies in Britain, this quote helps show the universality of this problem with education in a capitalist society. Students who see themselves as rebellious do not realise that they are actually supporting the inequality of the system. For capitalism to continue to work workers are needed to fulfill menial jobs and Willis argues that the rebellious working class boys in school are the ones that fulfill these positions. He believes the culture in schools among students is the mediating factor in terms of reproducing social conditions.

Michale Apple looked at the political power teachers can have in a classroom (Apple, 1982). He believed teachers could have agency by having input into curriculums or varying the way they teach. Apple comments on certain teachers he remembers being taught by in school that has had a major impact in his life. By having autonomy in the classroom, teachers can go further than what it required of them to benefit the students. Teachers have the opportunity to get to know the students well and therefore will be able to recognize the unique needs each individual may have. This is important because teachers can then shape the way they teach to help individuals. Bowles and Gintis believe that the school structure corresponds directly to capitalist society. Apple’s idea of the school is similar. He is against the idea of making money through education and running schools as a business. Apple believes that school should be about learning and giving children a chance to change their circumstances. He is against the commodification of education and schools.

Apple believed it was important for teachers to organise themselves into unions as this gives them power and autonomy. This political power is necessary if they want to fight back against the corporatization of education. Charter schools are an example of how schools can be run as a business because charter schools are usually sponsored by a business as well as being state funded. Apple’s critique of business in education is very important because he emphasizes the importance of teaching and the role teachers have in the classroom.

In conclusion, educational attainment is greatly determined by socio-economic class. Parsons argues that socialization processes at school perpetuate certain beliefs and places students into certain parts of society. Bowles and Gintis discuss the correspondence principle where school corresponds directly to capitalist society and that rather than being transformative, school is just a preparation for working class life. Gramsci looked at culture as oppressive but also artistic. Willis talks about the ‘lad culture’ that he found existed in British schools amongst young working class boys. Although the rebellious students believe they were fighting the oppressive system, they do not realise that they are actually supporting it. Finally, Apple commented on the importance for teachers to have political agency and the danger of the corporatization of schools. Structures, culture and socialization processes are influenced by class position and help to reproduce social conditions. The idea that every child no matter what their socio-economic class position will get the same opportunity and chance of equal educational attainment is not true. It is therefore important for education to be critical and help students to become aware of social situations and recognize that they have agency.

Reference List

Apple, M. W. (1982). Education and power . London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Bourdieu, P. & Passeron, J. C. (1977). Reproduction in education, society and culture. Trans. by Nice. R. London-Beverly Hills: Sage Publications.

Bourdieu, P. (1986). The forms of capital. In J. Richardson (Ed.), Handbook of Theory and Research for the Sociology of Education. (pp. 241-258). New York: Greenwood.

Bowles, S. & Gintis, H. (1976). Schooling in capitalist America: Educational reform and the contradictions of economic life. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul.

Class calculator: A US view of the class system. (2013, April 5). BCC News Magazine. Retrieved from: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-22025328

Gramsci, A., (1971). Selections from the Prison Notebooks of Antonio Gramsci. Ed. and trans. by Quintin Hoare and Geoffrey Nowell Smith. New York: International Publishers.

Parsons, T. (1959). The School Class as a Social System: Some of its Functions in American Society. Harvard Educational Review. 29. 297-318

Small, R. (2013, May). Lecture Eight presented for Education 204, University of  Auckland, Auckland.

Willis, P. (1977). Learning to labour: How working class kids get working class jobs. Farnborough: Saxon House.

Wilson, S. J., Tanner-Smith, E. E., Lipsey, M. W., Steinka-Fry, K., Morrison, J. (2011). Dropout prevention and intervention programs: effects on school completion and dropout among school aged children and youth. Campbell systematic reviews. 1-62.