Education Policies

Question 1

The tripartite system 1944

Answer 1

By 1944 the education system began to be shaped by the idea of meritocracy
The Butler Act introduced the tripartite system
Different aptitudes and abilities were identified by the 11+ exam which was taken by every child at 11 and would be used to allocate pupils to their appropriate school

Question 2

Secondary grammar

Answer 2

For people who passed the 11+
Mainly middle class
Offered an academic curriculum and access to non manual jobs and higher education
Less than 20% of the population attended these schools

Question 3

Secondary modern

Answer 3

Offered a non academic ‘practical’ curriculum and access to manual work for pupils who failed 11+
Mainly working class

Question 4

Technical schools

Answer 4

Only 5% of population attended
System was more of a bipartite than tripartite

Question 5

Evaluation of tripartite system

Answer 5

The school didn’t have parity of esteem
TS reproduced gender inequality by requiring girls to gain higher marks in 11+
Legitimated inequality from the ideology that ability is inborn and that it can be measured in a single test
Rather than promoting meritocracy it reproduced class inequality by channelling the two social classes into two different types of school offering unequal opportunities

Question 6

Comprehensive system 1965

Answer 6

Aimed to overcome class divide of TS and make education more egalitarian
Emphasised integration and inclusion 11+ abolished and all pupils within the same catchment area would attend a mixed ability comprehensive
However it was left up to the LEAs whether they go comprehensive or not

Question 7

Evaluation of comprehensive system

Answer 7

Marxists argue that comprehensives aren’t meritocratic
The reproduce class inequality through setting and labelling
By not selecting pupils at 11 is contributes to the myth of meritocracy by making failure look like the individuals fault
CS did not radically alter the education system because ‘tripartism continued under one roof’

Question 8

Conservative education reform act 1988

Answer 8

Marketisation has become a central theme in education since the 1988 ERA introduced by the conservative government of thatcher
Marketisation refers to the introducing market forces of consumer choice and competition between suppliers into areas run by the state such as education

Question 9

National curriculum

Answer 9

The government laid down a standardised national curriculum to ensure that schools and pupils concentrate on what they saw as the core and foundational subjects

Question 10

Parental choice

Answer 10

Parents were given the choice to send their children to the school of their choice to facilitate this schools produced prospectuses including comparisons of their SATs and exam results with the national average

Question 11

Grant maintained schools

Answer 11

Schools were encouraged to opt out of LEA control and become self governing, funded directly from the government. These schools had the right to select pupils through entry exams

Question 12

Criticism of national curriculum

Answer 12

Lawton argued that NC undermined local democratic control of education and the independence of the teaching profession by centralising power in the hands of government
Content of NC was very traditional and unimaginative in its exclusion of certain subjects
Johnson criticised it in the grounds that it defined certain types of knowledge as worthy of study while excluding others

Question 13

Ball and Gewirtz
Privileged skilled choosers

Answer 13

Privileged skilled choosers: mainly professional middle- class parents were able to exploit the new market place in education more effectively than working class parent. Because of their cultural and economic capital they can ensure their children go to their school of choice

Question 14

Ball and gewirtz disconnected local choosers

Answer 14

Working class parents whose choices were restricted by their lack of cultural capital and economic capital

Question 15

Ball and gewirtz semi skilled choosers

Answer 15

Mainly working class parents but more ambitious than disconnected local choosers. However they to lacked the cultural capital and found it difficult to make sense of the education system

Question 16

Funding formula

Answer 16

As a result of popular schools gaining more funding they can attract and afford better qualified teachers and better facilities and can select more able middle class pupils
Unpopular schools lose income and find it difficult to match the teacher skills to their more successful rivals

Question 17

Labour education policies

Answer 17

The educational policies of the new labour governments of tony Blair and Gordon brown were influenced by NR and social democrat ideas. Labour retained and modified NR policies such as marketisation, however at the same time, committed to reducing inequality and aimed to improve working class opportunity

Question 18

Specialist schools

Answer 18

I’m 1997 Labour inherited 196 specialist schools from the conservatives and by 2007 there were over 2500
These intended to be centres of excellence and raise standards of teaching and learning in their particular specialist subjects

Question 19

Fresh start programme

Answer 19

Failing schools were closed because they failed to meet targets and reopened as city academies. They had new teachers, names and sometimes buildings. The key objective was to improve standards particularly in disadvantaged areas

Question 20

1998 teaching and higher education act

Answer 20

Labour introduced tuition fees across the uk for undergraduates and postgraduates at £3000 per year

Question 21

Educational maintenance allowance EMA 1997

Answer 21

aimed to increase number of young people from low income backgrounds to stay in school and progress to university

Question 22

Sure start 1999

Answer 22

Aimed to give preschool children a better start in life
Brought together a range of educational and other services to support poorer parents to tackle cultural and material deprivation which disadvantages pupils

Question 23

Gifted and talented initiative 2002

Answer 23

Identified top 5% of students aged 11-18 in inner city secondary schools and provide them with extra study support

Question 24

Criticisms of Labour policies

Answer 24

The synthesis of NR and social democrats contradict eachother undermine their efforts to make eduction egalitarian

Question 25

Free schools coalition 2010-15

Answer 25

All ability state funded schools set up in response to what local people say the want and need in order to improve education for children
Business leaders, charities, parents and teachers are able to open schools and address problems within an area
Supporters of free schools claim they give parents the opportunity to create a new school if they are unhappy with state schools

Question 26

Criticism of free schools

Answer 26

Allen argues that research from Sweden where 20% of schools are free schools shows that they only benefit children in affluent areas
Free schools are socially divisive and they lower standards as swedens international ranking has fallen since their introduction

Question 27

Vocational subjects

Answer 27

January 2012 Gove ordered 96% of gcse equivalent vocational subjects to be striped from school league tables
Practical training course were axed despite recognition from teachers that they have value for pupils

Question 28

Nick clegg policies in coalition

Answer 28

FSMs extended to all children in reception and KS1
Pupil premium- money that school received for each pupil in disadvantaged backgrounds

Question 29

He tuition and EMA

Answer 29

in 2010 coalition increased university tuition to 9000 per year
They also scrapped EMAs for 16-18 years old but due to protest replaced these with the bursary

Question 30

Conservative Privatisation

Answer 30

Involves making services previously provided by the government into the private sector
Education has increasingly become a source of profit for capitalists