“The one thing all children have in common is their rights. Every child has the right to survive and thrive, to be educated, to be free from violence and abuse, to participate and to be heard.” (Ban Ki Moon, 2014). Education has always been dubbed the key to success, but the definition of success is oftentimes unmentioned due to its obscurity and abstractness. Although it is often over-complicated or associated with a high paying career and a nice house, its definition, as per Oxford Dictionary, is “the accomplishment of an aim or purpose.”. In a world where education is highly valued and directly linked to happiness, many students are finding themselves disheartened and disappointed with the school system. Although it is not the single
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One of the most popular ones is Marxism, which supports that education reproduces the inequalities and social relations of production of a capitalist society, which is a society controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state. (Kellner, 2006). Marxists view the ruling class, or bourgeoisie, as exploiting the working class, or proletariat, due to the unfair treatment of education, and consider this the basis of class inequality. In addition, the Marxist theory, education serves to legitimate these inequalities under the guise of meritocracy, and that the education system is built to benefit the elites. According to the Marxist theory, the system benefits the elites in 3 ways: Firstly, it reproduces class inequality via the lower standards of education that working-class children have due to rich families using their material and cultural capital to ensure that their kids go to the best schools. Secondly, it legitimates class inequality by using meritocracy as an excuse and justifying the unequal opportunities through teaching kids that everyone has an equal chance to succeed, and that the effort is all that matters in achieving success. This serves to perpetuate class inequality by invalidating it. Lastly, education is seen as working in the interest of capitalists, because the values of the hidden curriculum, which involves the experiences of attending school rather than the actual curriculum, correspond with the way in which a workplace operates. (Bowles and Gintis,
One of the most popular ones is Marxism, which supports that education reproduces the inequalities and social relations of production of a capitalist society, which is a society controlled by private owners for profit, rather than by the state. (Kellner, 2006). Marxists view the ruling class, or bourgeoisie, as exploiting the working class, or proletariat, due to the unfair treatment of education, and consider this the basis of class inequality. In addition, the Marxist theory, education serves to legitimate these inequalities under the guise of meritocracy, and that the education system is built to benefit the elites. According to the Marxist theory, the system benefits the elites in 3 ways: Firstly, it reproduces class inequality via the lower standards of education that working-class children have due to rich families using their material and cultural capital to ensure that their kids go to the best schools. Secondly, it legitimates class inequality by using meritocracy as an excuse and justifying the unequal opportunities through teaching kids that everyone has an equal chance to succeed, and that the effort is all that matters in achieving success. This serves to perpetuate class inequality by invalidating it. Lastly, education is seen as working in the interest of capitalists, because the values of the hidden curriculum, which involves the experiences of attending school rather than the actual curriculum, correspond with the way in which a workplace operates. (Bowles and Gintis,