Discuss the Marxist view of education

Marxists view education as a tool for the ruling class to maintain capitalist domination of society. By producing passive workers and ensuring cultural reproduction education is a powerful mechanism for ruling class control. Class inequalities are legitimated thus the capitalist system is never challenged. 

One way this is done is through formal socialisation. Althusser explains the function of education as ideological control, as school is a tool of capitalism. Since the government controls educational policy, students are ideologically controlled into following the norms and values of capitalism. According to Althusser, education is a powerful Ideological State Apparatus. This functions to socialise children into two ideas: success and failure is a fair reflection of talent and its important to set rules set by a superior. For instance, YoungMinds found 50% 16-17 year olds are under stress about exams. Education communicates messages of “follow the rules” and “society is fair” , maintaining capitalist exploitation as inequality is accepted as inevitable thus students are less likely to challenge capitalism. Therefore, education functions to maintain what Marx called a “false class conciousness”, thus maintaining ruling class supremacy. Functionalist Murdock would argue against this as he argues students are socialised into a value consensus, creating a sense of social solidarity, a feeling of “togetherness”. Furthermore he argues that instead of subordinating the lower classes, education teaches us specialist skills for the advanced industrial economy. However Gramsci would agree with Althusser, as he argues that class domination is dependent upon ideological control, and that the ruling class have won the “battle of ideas”. Postmodernists argue that education results in diversity, not inequality as educators construct knowledge with children, a discourse. Overall, Althusser highlights how education prevents rebellion against capitalist dominance, despite not recognising the virtues of education.