comprehensive schools Flashcards
what are 3 significant points about comprehensive schools
free - state maintained
non-selective
mixed abilities and social backgrounds
what did comprehesive schools aim to do
aimed to overcome the class divide of the tripartite system and make education more meritocratic
who argues in favour
functionalists
argument in favour - social integration
fulfill essential functions such as encouraging social integration
meritocratic selection of students into work roles
argument in favour - social barriers
breakdown social barriers - take students from a range of social class backgrounds and abilities
students learn to interact with people from a range of social backgrounds
arguments in favour - talent
moon discovered
prevent wasted talent
they dont select students at a young age
can learn at own pace through mixed ability teaching
moon 1990 discovered mixed ability teaching improved educational performance of low ability students without affecting higher abilities
arguments in favour - equality
equality of educational opportunity unlike tripartite system
all students attend the same school and receive same educational experience
who argues against
marxists
argument against - meritocracy
not meritocratic and produce class inequality due to continuing the streaming and labelling practice
what is streaming and labelling
streaming - putting a student in the same ability group for everything
labelling - labelling a student’s ability
arguments against - mixed ability
mixed ability teaching has negative consqeunces
brighter students held back by less able
lower ability students may find work too hard to cope with
arguments against - ford 19_
ford 1969 found in reality there was little social mixing between classes due to streaming
arguments against exam results
obtain worse exam results than grammar and private schools
league tables show few comprehensive schools appear in top 100 schools across country
arguments against - myth of meritocracy
appear to offer equal chances but legitimises class equality. it justifies unequal achievement making it appear as your own fault rather than the system’s
arguments against - areas
most successful comprehensive schools are in areas where house prices are expensive so it favours middle class
