ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the ideological function of the State through to schooling and to teachers. The ideological function of the State, then, is the establishment of hegemony – which, in its broadest terms, means ensuring that the relation between capital and labour remains unthreatened by obtaining voluntary submission on the part of labour to the forms and processes of capitalist production. The chapter presents a very positive picture of schooling through the common equation of 'schooling' and 'Education'. Schooling is commonly represented as a clear manifestation of equal opportunity for all in a democratic society, and on the face of it this does appear to be so. Schooling is a necessary prerequisite for employment and a necessary preparation for employment. The chapter considers the legitimation process of schooling is the ideological representation that schools pass on worthwhile knowledge. Elementary and junior-secondary teachers could hardly be regarded as the guardians or possessors of expert or esoteric content.
