Education: Educational reforms 1944 – 1988 The tripartite and the comprehensive system Flashcards
What happened between 1870 - 2010 with education
1870: Forster Education Act The first education policy in the UK (state elementary schools)
1944: Butler Education Act Tripartite system & intelligence testing
1965: Comprehensive education
1960s: Education Priority Areas introduced Compensatory education external factors recognised
1970s: Emphasis on exams and testing
1988: Marketisation of education Education Reform Act
1998: Edu action zones
2000s: Curriculum 2000 – AS and A2, BTECs, key skills, city academies, university fees, EMA
2010: Expansion of academies, free schools, EMA scrapped, university fees increased
2000s - Further marketisation
Education before 1870
Depended on a child’s social class background and their sex
Fortunate children from upper class families had their own teacher, called a Governess or a Tutor. S/he taught the girls and younger boys at home, before the boys were sent away to boarding school Boys from very rich families were sent to public boarding schools, like Eton, where the fees were very expensive. From there, they went onto Oxbridge.
M/c
Girls learned sewing and other skills which would help them to run a household. These were subjects which were thought to be most useful to girls.
Boys were sent to fee paying grammar schools where they learnt basic subjects
w/c
Most poor children worked in cotton mills and coal mines, and their earnings were an important part of the family income. If they went to school, their families would lose this money.
There were village schools in some places in the country run by the churches on Sundays. Here, standards were appalling and education was based on learning the Bible.
Why was Forsters Edu Act 1870 introduced
By the end of the 19th century, the economy changed to such an extent that it needed a skilled, rather than an unskilled, workforce.
Forsters Edu Act 1870; what, why, criticism
The Education Act of 1870 established elementary schools for 5 to 11 year olds.
Children were taught basic literacy and numeracy skills.
Aim:
- The Industrial Revolution created a need for an educated workforce. An industrial society required a numerate and literate pool of labour.
- To improve the effectiveness of Britain’s armies - soldiers who could read, write and count would form a more successful fighting force.
- To re-socialise the aimless, feckless poor – Many Victorians felt that the working classes lived immorally, e.g. the consumption of gin being the great moral panic of the day.
- To reduce the level of street crime – get the pick-pockets off the street - the story of Oliver Twist.
- To ward off the threat of revolution – the French revolution and the writings of Karl Marx caused concern for the ruling classes. Free education would make the ruling classes appear generous and teach the masses respect for authority and train them to follow instructions and to follow rules.
Crit:
- Education Act 1870 made little difference to the lives of working class children.
- Success in life still depended on ascribed status:
- m/c children were sent to fee paying grammar schools where they received academic curriculum for professional careers, while the w/c children got elementary schooling where they learnt only the basic skills needed for factory work
What caused the Butler Education Act to be introduced in 1944
1940s, the idea of meritocracy – individuals should achieve their status through their own effort and ability - began to shape education policy. Natural intelligence recognised
Butler Edu Act; what, why, criticism
It brought in the tripartite system – 3 different types of secondary schools:
Grammar
Secondary modern
Technical
Children were allocated to one of these schools on the basis of how well they performed in the 11+ exam.
- Unfair to girls because many schools were single-sex, and most grammar schools were for boys.
Girls’ 11+ scores were marked down because it was assumed that boys matured later. - There were regional variations. Some parts of the –
country had more grammar schools than others.
Middle class children dominated grammar schools, as they performed best in the 11+. The problem with IQ tests is that they can be culturally-biased in favour of middle-class pupils. That meant that the majority of grammar school pupils came from the middle classes. Far from providing an equal education for all, the tripartite system reflected the existing social divisions in society as the influence of material deprivation and cultural deprivation was ignored. - The self-esteem of working class students was damaged by the inferior status of secondary modern schools.
- Few technical schools were actually built due to the cost.
- ‘Parity of esteem’ The schools were not equally respected
Grammar schools
Accepted what were considered to be academically bright pupils who had done well in the 11+ plus exam.
Such schools taught a wide range of academic subjects including Latin and in some cases Greek.
These schools entered their pupils for public examinations (‘O’ and ‘A’ levels) which were needed for any pupil that wished to attend university.
Twenty per cent of the population at that time attended these schools
Secondary modern schools
Accepted most students in the country, 75% of children went to secondary modern schools.
Such children would not have performed as well in the 11+ plus exam as those from grammar schools and as a result they would receive a basic education with a more practical emphasis.
Up until the 1960s there was very little opportunity for public examinations to be taken in such schools meaning that the opportunity to go to university was effectively ruled out if you went to such a school.
Technical schools
Only accepted about 5 per cent of students in the country at that time.
Such schools were designed for pupils that excelled in technical subjects and consequently emphasised vocational skills and knowledge.
These schools taught subjects such as woodwork, metalwork, crafts etc.
However, they were expensive to build and very few were actually set up.
Comprehensive Edu 1965
Comprehensive schools aimed to educate all students regardless of ability or background in the same school. As such, they were based on the principle of one type of school for everyone.
Comprehensive education was introduced in 1965 by the Labour government in response to discontent with the tripartite system.
The 11+ exam was abolished and grammar, secondary modern and technical schools were replaced with comprehensive schools.
Admissions to comprehensive schools were based on the catchment area – the local area surrounding a school.
Why was comprehensive education introduced 1965
It was thought that they would break down social barriers as children of all classes, religions, ethnic backgrounds and gender would mix together and this would promote tolerance.
There were no entrance exams, so no student is labelled a failure.
They are designed to cater for students of all ability.
Because they are larger, more subjects could be taught and more facilities provided. Hence, there are economic reasons comprehensives were introduced.
Strengths of comprehensive edu
Comprehensives are better at addressing the demands for equal opportunities as children of different backgrounds attend comprehensives so there is more potential for social mobility.
Comprehensive school students’ self-esteem is not damaged by the stigma of going to an inferior school.
Research has shown that high ability students do as well in comprehensive schools as in grammar schools and that low ability students achieve more than they did in secondary modern schools.
Comprehensive schools provide a wide range of examination options such as GCSEs as well as BTEC and vocational courses.
Comprehensive schools are large schools so they can provide a wider range of facilities for sport, drama, technology and science.
Even if a comprehensive school streams its pupils by ability, there is still a chance for students to move up into higher bands. This was not possible under the tripartite system.
Weaknesses of comprehensive edu
Independent sector and grammar schools still exist. They tend to cream-skim the most able students away from local comprehensives. This makes the comprehensive school more like a secondary modern.
Comprehensives were meant to break down class barriers and create a social mix in schools, but catchment areas are usually class based, e.g. inner-city comprehensives tend to have working class students, whilst suburban schools tend to have middle class children.
Many comprehensive schools allocated students into streams with middle class students ending up in top streams. This may lead to labelling of students in low streams as failures thus leading to their underachievement. Therefore, this is a form of selection, similar to the tripartite system - ‘Tripartite system under one roof.’
There was limited parental choice. Parents had to send their child to the local school, no matter how good or bad it was.
Comprehensive system legitimate social inequality by creating the myth of meritocracy. It makes it look as if all students have the same chance to succeed, but some will always have an advantage, e.g. cultural capital.
Compensatory education 1967
In 1967, the Labour government set up six Education Priority Areas in economically deprived parts of the country.
They were to receive more money and more teachers for primary schools in order to tackle the problem of cultural deprivation.
