ABSTRACT
The contemporary form of schooling in capitalist societies is the result of historical processes and struggles. The accumulation process in any social formation structured by the capitalist mode of production is characterized by certain phenomena which occur generally. The provision of universal state education reflects a resolution of the question of control over the schools in favour of the dominant classes whose interests are articulated in the apparatuses of the state and in their functioning. It is largely through practical ideology that the school manages to secure the conditions for continued capital accumulation and the reproduction of capitalist class relations. The emphasis on practical ideology was to throw doubt on the liberal notion that what schooling provides for the economic structure is a highly-skilled and educated labour force, schooling being the agency whereby the masses are trained in the advanced instrumental skills and knowledge necessitated by a technologically based society.
