Marxism and the School. Education and Social Change. The Marx Perspective – Contemporary Experiences

Abstract

One of the constitutive assumptions for Marx and Engels’ thought was to criticise the Enlightenment’s idea
of revolution in school education. This education, which was an elite right in their time, did not become an
object of independent reflection. The workers’ movement identified it with self-education. Intelligence with
schooling. The development of schooling pushed towards the transfer of political struggle to the school.
Educational policy in countries ruled by authoritarian parties appealing to Marxism and in countries where
movements appealing to Marxism had an impact on education became a new problem. The current profound
crisis of these phenomena makes us ask questions about the logic of their development and the reasons for
the current breakdown.