education policy Flashcards
edcational policy before 1988 - tripartite system
children to be allocated to 1 of 3 schools according to ability:
secondary modern - general edu for non-academic mainly wc
grammar schools - academic curriculum mainly mc
technical schools - third existed in few areas.
meritocratic system - children received education based on academic achievement
11+ would determine what school you would attend
AO3 pros of tripartite system
different ability students get the support they need for their ability
resources can be better targeted
less able don’t feel inferior and more able do not get held back
AO3 cons of tripartite system
80% of students at 11 feel a failure (due to 11+)
most children develop after 11
justifies inequality - supports ideology that ability is inborn and thus can be measured from an early age
edcational policy before 1988 - comprehensive system
introduced by labour gov
ensured all students, no matter their ability, had a similar education - made education meritocratic
all students of all ability attended the same school
catchment areas
AO3 comprehensive schools - functionalist view
functionalist view: promotes social integration by bringing kids of different social classes together
more meritocratic - give pupils longer period to develop and show their abilities unlike tripartite
AO3 comprehensive schools - marxist view
not meritocratic - but reporduce class inequality by the continuation of labelling and streaming = continue to deny WC opportunities
1944 education act
introduced the tripartite system
influenced by meritocracy
1965 labour government
introduced comprehensive system - merging of grammar and secondary modern schools
aim: to reduce the class gap in achievement
marketisation
The process of introducing market forces of consumer choice and competition.
has created an ‘education market’ by reducing direct state control over education
new right favour
policies to promote marketisation include: publication of league tables, specialist schools.
marketised education is a ‘parentocracy’ - ruled by parents
gives parents mo0re choice and raises standards
marketisation - league tables and cream skimming, increase class inequalities
publishing the schools’ exam results in a league table ensures that the
schools that achieve good results are more in demand because parents are more attracted to them
this encourages
cream-skimming - ‘good’ schools can be more selective, choosing students that achieve high results - mainly MC
silt-shifting - ‘good’ schools can avoid taking less able students who are likely to get poor results
marketisation - the funding formula
schools are allocated funds by a formula based on how many pupils they attract
popular schools get more funds, so they can afford better teachers
their popularity allows them to be more selective and attracts more able students
unpopular schools lose income and fail to attract pupils, and their funding is further reduced
marketisation - Gerwitz: parental choice
by increasing parental choice, marketisation advantages, MC parents whose economic and cultural capital puts them in a better position to choose good schools
Gerwitz study of 14 secondary schools found that differences in parents’ economic and cultural capital lead to class differences.
theres 3 main types of parents
privileged-skilled choosers: professional MC parents who use their economic and cultural capital to gain educational capital for their kids - have the time and money ot get the best school
disconnected local choosers
semi-skilled choosers: mainly WC, ambitious for their kids but lack cultural capital
marketisation pros
schools can choose pupils and be high on league tables
parentocracy (rule of parents) make decisions about what’s best for kids
marketisation cons
has increased inequalities
marketisation policies such as exam league tables reproduce class inequalities by creating inequalities between schools
marketisation AO3 - the myth of parentocracy
marketisation legitimates inequality
Ball:
marketing gives the appearance of a parentocracy, but in reality MC parents are better able to take the advantages of the choices available
The myth of apprenticeship makes inequality in education seem fair
2010 coalition governments
faith schools = follow national curriculum but with chosen religion integrated
free schools = funded by government , all ability, established by parents and teachers to improve education standards by taking the power away from the state
academies = by 2012 1/2 of all secondary schools are academies
AO3 pros of faith schools
good for parents that want their children raised around a specific religion
AO3 cons of faith schools
they’re selective of applicants - good for MC, bad for WC
AO3 pros of free schools
benefits for all children
AO3 cons for free schools
selective
1880
male education compulsory from age 5-13
1997 marketisation
education maintenance allowance (EMAs) payments to students from low-income backgrounds to encourage them to stay on in education after 16
marxist view on comprehensive schools AO3
marxist view: not meritocratic, they reported class inequality from one generation to the next through continuation of streaming and labelling = denies WC any opportunity
‘myth of meritocracy’
legitimates class inequality by making unequal achievement seem fair and just because failure looks like the individuals fault not the systems’
conservative policies 2010 - academies
all schools encouraged to become academies, some funded by privately-owned chains, some funded by central government
conservative policies 2010 - free schools
state-funded but set up and run by parents, teachers, religious groups or businesses
conservative policies 2010 to reduce inequality
free school meals
the pupil premium
conservative policies 2010 to reduce inequality AO3
ofsted found that only 1/10 head teachers said the pupil premium money has significantly supported disadvantaged pupils
conservative government policies - academies
funding taken from the local authority budgets and given directly to academies
by 2017, 68% of all secondary schools had converted to academy status
conservative government policies - free schools
funded by state
set up and run by parents, teachers or businesses rather than local authority
claim they improve education by taking control
conservative government policies - free schools Ao3
research from Sweden
20% of schools are free schools, shows they only benefit children from highly educated families
they take fewer disadvantaged pupils than. nearby schools
conservative government policies - fragmented centralisation
promoting academies and free schools has led to increased frgamentation and centralisation of control over education
fragmentation - comprehensive system is being replaced by a patchwoek of diverse provision - leads to greater inequality
centralisation -
conservative government policies AO3 - policies to reduce inequality
free school meals
pupil premium - money schools receive for each child from a disadvantaged background
However, Ofsted found this isn’t spent on the pupils that need it
the privatisation of education
involves the transfer of public assets such as schools to private companies
the privatisation of education - privatisation and globalisation if education policy
many private companies in education services are foreign owned
e.g Edexcel is owned by the US
the privatisation of education - the cola-isation of schools
private sector is also penetrating education indirectly
e.g vending machines in schools with logos
schools are targeted by private companies because they are a kind of product endorsement
policies on gender
19th century females largely excluded from higher eeucation
since the 1970s, policies such as GIST have been introduced to try and reduce gender differences in subject choice
policies on ethnicity
several phases of policies:
assimilation: policies in 1960s/70s focused on need for pupils from minority groups to assimilate into the mainstream British culture - especially helping those whose English is not their first language
however, minority groups are at risk of underachieving due to poverty, racism, or not speaking English as their second language
social inclusion - polciies to raise thier achievement became focus in 1990s
include:
- monitoring of exam reuslts by ethnicity
