Education Policy And Inequality Flashcards
What created the tripartite system?
The 1944 Education Act
What were the three different types of secondary schools?
Grammar schools
Secondary modern schools
Technical schools
How were these identified?
The 11+ exam
Who were grammar schools for?
Pupils with academic ability
Who were secondary modern schools meant for?
Non academic curriculum
Offered manual work
How did the tripartite system reproduce class inequality?
By channelling two social classes into two different types of school
Offered unequal opportunities
High gender inequality by requiring girls to have a higher grade boundary
When was the comprehensive system introduced?
1965
What did the comprehensive school system aim to do?
Overcome the class divide and make education more meritocratic
Abolished the 11+
What do functionalists argue about comprehensive schools?
They promote social integration by bringing different social classes together in one school
More meritocratic
What do Marxists argue about comprehensive schools?
Not meritocratic
Still have streaming and labelling
When did marketisation become a central theme?
1988 Education Reform Act
What are some policies to promote marketisation?
Publication of league tables
OFSTED inspection reports
Business sponsorship of schools
Open endolment
Specialist schools
Formula funding
Schools competing against eachother
What is parentocracy
Rule by parengs
Shift power towards the consumers (parents)
What does publishing league tables do?
Schools that achieve good exam results are more in demand
What does Bartlett argue league tables do?
Cream skimming
Slit shifting
What is cream skimming?
Good schools can be more selective
Choose their own customers
Recruit high achieving, mainly middle class pupils
What is slit shifting?
Good schools avoid taking less able pupils
Who get poor results
Mainly working class