Marxism in Education

Christine N. Gopez

Karl Marx argues that life is not determined by consciousness, but consciousness by life. This means that the way we go about our business, the way we organize our daily life is reflected in the way we think about things and the sort of world we create. The institutions we build, the philosophies we adhere to, the prevailing ideas of the time, the culture in our society are all determined to some extent or another by the economic structure of our society. In relation to this, the way children are taught in schools reflects the kind of organization a workplace has.

However, despite the growing number of people who support the Marxist perspective, the context and main goal of this philosophy raise the brows of many. Basically, this philosophy benefits the ruling class or the elites. In this perspective, students are urged to obey authority and social classes are apparent. This view of education emphasizes how the educational system reproduces existing social class inequality and how it will be implemented in the next generation. Marxists believe that the value taught by the school is the value of the ruling class.

Contrary to functionalism, Marxists do not believe that the educational system is based on neutral sorting and competence rating. Instead, they believe that the social class and other factors may affect the success or failure of education. The Marxist approach believes that there is no equal opportunity for education, but education covers the fact that the social class influences the success and inequality of education. Specific examples of Marxism that happen in the classroom are bulleted below:

•The students are required to buy materials for their project. The middle-class and the elites could afford to buy that material while those below the marginal level could not.

•Students who graduate in courses like Law or Medicine have bigger opportunities than the other graduates. They are paid more compared to the other professionals.

•The school implements general rules and cascades it to the advisers. These rules are then modified (without removing any of the general rules) based on the needs of the class.

•Educators and the whole school community must be good exemplars to students because they imitate what they see from their teachers and school heads.

•The class officers have the authority inside the classroom.

•Most of the students who are encouraged to run for candidacy in councils are those who are somehow well-off or those who are intellectuals.

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The author is Teacher II at Calulut Integrated School, Division of City of San Fernando,

Pampanga.