education policies

Question 1

What are the aims of education?

Answer 1

• economic efficiency
• raising standards
  creating equality of opportunity

Question 2

what is equality of circumstance?

Answer 2

everyone should have the same socio economic circumstance and start their education at the same point

Question 3

what is equality of participation?

Answer 3

each individual should have the same chances to take part in their educational experience to the fullest extent such as school trips)

Question 4

what is equality of outcome?

Answer 4

everyone should be able to achieve the best that they can so they are able to do well after school be that in work, college or higher education

Question 5

what is marketisation?

Answer 5

making schools compete with one another for government funding and running them like businesses

Question 6

what did Whitty say about marketisation policies and inequality?

Answer 6

marketisation policies such as league tables and the funding formulas reproduce class inequalities by creating inequalities between schools

Question 7

what did David say about marketisation (functionalist)?

Answer 7

they describe marketised education as a parentocracy and it is ruled by parents. In marketisation, the parents have the power. They claim that this encourages diversity among schools, giving more choice and raising standards

Question 8

what did Ball say about marketisation and parents? (marxist)

Answer 8

argues that parents are now encouraged to see themselves as consumers of education. It is seen as good parenting to put your child in a good school.

Question 9

what did Gerwitz say about education? (marxist)

Answer 9

marketisation policies benefit the middle class by creating inequalities in schools. This is supported by her study and how much London schools have a choice of school

Question 10

How successful were New Labour reforms?

Answer 10

• the middle class gained the most ( sally Tomlinson)
• they further privatised education.
• they made some positive steps in terms of vocational education
• did not manage to overcome the divide between academic and vocational qualifications
• unsuccessful in attempts to reduce class differences and the gender gap (Ball)

Question 11

what happened under the coalition governement?

Answer 11

-a levels were made more difficult by separating AS and A levels
- a new national curriculum was introduced with an emphasis on more traditional content
- reformed the League tables
- The EVac was introduced to give a more academic judgment
- EMa was scrapped

Question 12

what did Martin Freedman mean by “selection by the backdoor”

Answer 12

That there are some parents who are “sneakily” getting their children into these free schools and not going about it the right way, taking the places of the children who actually would be better off in these school

Question 13

what are the main components of an academy?

Answer 13

• Gove expanded the academy programme and changed the form it took
• the option to become an academy as awarded to all outstanding schools
• these are independent of local authority control
• many academies are operated by chain that are run by businesses

Question 14

what are the two types of privatisation?

Answer 14

endogenous and exogenous

Question 15

what is endogenous privatisation?

Answer 15

the schools are privatised from within. They operate more like private companies, advertise against competitors and treat pupils and parents as consumers

Question 16

what is exogenous privatisation?

Answer 16

schools are run by private companies and increasingly buy in services such as exam boards, consultants, counselling etc

Question 17

what is globalisation?

Answer 17

the expansion of global linkages, the organization of social life on a global scale, and the growth of a global consciousness

Question 18

what does Anthony Kelly (2009) say about globalisation?

Answer 18

• Governments feel education has to produce workers who can compete in a global market
  -This puts less emphasis on social factors (cohesive integrated society)
• Education worldwide will become more alike
• School improvement programmes driven by multi national companies

Question 19

what is globalisation like in higher education?

Answer 19

• Universities etc have to market their courses internationally to thrive
• Overseas students pay high fees
• They also have joint ventures eg Liverpool University set up a joint venture in Shanghai

Question 20

what did Ball say about privatisation?

Answer 20

privatisation is the key factor in shaping educational policy (state is losing control)

Question 21

what did Hall (Marxist) say about academies?

Answer 21

academies are an example of handing over public services to private capitalists. Driving up standards is a myth

Question 22

what are some strengths of international comparisons?

Answer 22

• Comparisons are useful to see if educational spending matches achievement in UK
• Oates (2013) help see what is humanly possible to achieve at each age
• Provide evidence for policy makers to see what does and doesn’t work

Question 23

what are some weaknesses of international comparisons?

Answer 23

• Tests only look at literacy numeracy and science
• Don’t look at well being of child
• There are concerns about the reliability and validity of the tests – how can you compare UK with countries where child labour is normal? Equally Hong Kong has a very different culture
• They can damage policy as they are based on misleading information

Question 24

what are some reasons why government policies aimed at raising educational achievement among disadvantaged groups may not always work?

Answer 24

• educational policies cannot overcome poverty as a cause of underachievemnt, economic policies will be required for this
• campaigns are not always successful - GIST
• certain policies do not always do what they set out to do - pupil premium

Question 25

what things did the new labour bring in?

Answer 25

• education action zones (1998)
• university tuition fees (1998)
• sure start (2000)
• aim higher (2004)