In three sentences
1. To understand learning amidst standardised curriculum, grades, and credentials, remain focused on learning.
2. Learning has become a product that can be bought and sold in competition with others rather than a natural human activity.
3. Consider the conditions, context and assumptions of problems before jumping to solutions and even defining problems (such as an absence of knowledge or skills).
Impressions
I have re-read this paper more times than any other. It is a challenging read, but well worth the effort the authors intend for us to put in. I will continue to revisit this paper and dive into Marx's original essay.
How the text changed me
The authors have made me more curious about the similarities between learning and labor. People often ask, "What do you do with a degree in anthropology or gender and sexuality studies?" or "Are you getting your return on investment?" The text takes these questions seriously but challenges their assumptions, urging us to rethink value while approaching solutions with caution toward existing conditions.
Top three quotesHe feels interested when he is not learning in school, and when he is learning in school he does not feel interested (107).
Alienation reduces collective life to the individual and utilitarian: Estranged from nature and the most productive life activities, estranged labor – and no less estranged learning – changes the life of the species into a means, merely the means, of satisfying the need to maintain physical existence, and further it becomes only a means to individual life (110).
If schools did not insist that learners engage in day-to-day competition to acquire what is called the core curriculum, the basics, cultural literacy, etc., it would not be possible to sustain the illusion of inherent intelligence, credentials to be earned, and a societal stock of knowledge to be transmitted (118).
Fascinating details
What Can Marx Teach Us About Learning?
Just as workers produce goods that can be bought and sold while becoming commodities themselves, learning has also become a product to be bought and sold. This commodification alienates learners, reducing learning to credentials, degrees, and certifications rather than a meaningful, contextualised process. Simultaneously, the perceived “absence” of learning is also commodified. This includes:
> Remedial programs claiming to address "learning deficits."
> Educational interventions for those labeled as "failing" to learn properly.
> Self-help products promising solutions to learning challenges.
> Diagnoses and treatments for learning disabilities.
The Problem: Access to elite higher education is limited to those born into privileged families.
The Solution: “Open access” through merit-based criteria like standardized test scores and extracurricular activities, intended to reward hard work and individual talent.
The Critique: Students from wealthy families still hold inherent advantages through better-resourced schools, tutors, and networking opportunities. Their success is framed as merit, while the system’s structural inequalities remain unquestioned.
The Solution: “Open access” through merit-based criteria like standardized test scores and extracurricular activities, intended to reward hard work and individual talent.
The Critique: Students from wealthy families still hold inherent advantages through better-resourced schools, tutors, and networking opportunities. Their success is framed as merit, while the system’s structural inequalities remain unquestioned.
When inequality is criticized, the response often involves increasing competition (more scholarships, tougher exams) rather than addressing these structural advantages. Entrance exams place the focus on what students do not know. As the article states: children must go to school not to learn, but to avoid getting caught not knowing the required parts of standardized knowledge. Moreover, exams institutionalize predefined knowledge, further alienating learners.
Why should “real learning” be separated from “real life”? This artificial separation conceals the alienation inherent in everyday school practices. The emphasis on entrance exams highlights learning-for-display rather than genuine understanding.
Equal Access vs. Privileged Expertise
The Problem: The imposition of a dominant cultural standard as the norm in education.
The Solution: Individual-focused self-help and personal development frameworks emphasizing self-realization, productivity techniques, and networking.
The Limitation: This approach ignores structural barriers like poverty and discrimination. Failure is framed as a personal shortcoming rather than a systemic issue. Individuals are encouraged to work harder on self-improvement instead of challenging the conditions that make success difficult to achieve in the first place.
The Solution: Individual-focused self-help and personal development frameworks emphasizing self-realization, productivity techniques, and networking.
The Limitation: This approach ignores structural barriers like poverty and discrimination. Failure is framed as a personal shortcoming rather than a systemic issue. Individuals are encouraged to work harder on self-improvement instead of challenging the conditions that make success difficult to achieve in the first place.
Learners are often framed as problems to be solved by experts who are disconnected from their realities. To truly understand learning in the context of standardized curricula, grades, and credentials, we must move beyond commodified education and focus on learning as a meaningful, contextual process.
Reference:
McDermott, Ray, and Jean Lave. “Estranged Labor Learning.” Critical Perspectives on Activity: Explorations Across Education, Work, and Everyday Life. Ed. Peter Sawchuk, Newton Duarte, and Mohamed Elhammoumi. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. 89–122. Print.
I have adapted the questions I used to think about the text from Ali Abdaal.
