ABSTRACT
This chapter outlines the Marxist concept of 'class' and distinguishes it from the more common bourgeois concept; and indicates the place of class struggle in the process of historical transformation. Over the past few decades there have been a large number of studies undertaken regarding the social-class status of school-teachers, most of which have been situated within the context of an 'orthodox' empiricist sociological framework concerned mainly with socio-economic definitions of 'class'. Within the framework of the 'orthodox' problematic today's teachers are generally recognised as not belonging to the working class. When Plato conceived of his Republic, he envisaged that the classes within it would work together harmoniously for the common good of the State. Marxist theory has no place for ideals. Its analyses derive from material circumstances. Class struggle is generally recognised as taking place on three closely interrelated levels: the economic, the political, and the ideological.
