Education policy & inequality

Question 1

What were the main features of the tripartite system?

Answer 1

• 1944 - influenced by the idea of meritocracy
• children allocated three different types of secondary schools based on abilities
• identified by the 11+ exam
  3 types of schools:
  -grammar schools
  -secondary modern
  -technical school

Question 2

What were the consequences of the tripartite system?

Answer 2

• tripartite system and 11+ reproduced class inequality by channelling the two social classes into two different types of schools that offered unequal opportunities
• reproduced gender inequality as girls had to gain higher marks than boys in 11+ to gain a place
• legitimised inequality through the ideology that ability is inborn

Question 3

What were the main features of the comprehensive school system?

Answer 3

• introduced from 1965 onwards
• aimed to overcome the class divide of the tripartite system & make education more meritocratic
• 11+ was abolished along with grammar & secondary moderns to be replaced with comprehensive

Question 4

Evaluation comprehensive schools

Answer 4

• left to local education authority to decide where to go comprehensive and not all did so
• grammar modern divide still existed in may areas

Question 4

What is the functionalist view on the role of comprehensive schools?

Answer 4

• promote social integration by bringing children of different social classes together in one school (counter = effects of streaming w/c + m/c divided)
• more meritocratic because it gives pupils a longer period in which to develop & show their abilities

Question 5

What is the Marxist view on the role of comprehensives?

Answer 5

• not meritocratic, but reproduces class inequality through the continuation of the practice of labelling & streaming
• ‘myth of meritocracy’ legitimises class inequality by making unequal achievement seem fair & just> fault of individual not system

Question 6

What is the definition of marketisation?

Answer 6

• refers to the process of introducing market forces of consumer choice and competition between suppliers into areas run by the state > education

Question 7

When did marketisation become a central theme of government education policy?

Answer 7

• since the 1988 Education Reform Act introduced by the conservative government

Question 8

Which sociological perspectives favour marketisation and why?

Answer 8

• neoliberals & New Right favour marketisation
• argue marketisation means that schools have to attract customers (parents) by competing with eachother in the market
• schools that provide customers with what they want will thrive

Question 9

What policies were used to promote marketisation?

Answer 9

• publication of league tables + OFSTED > rank each school according to its exam performance and give parents the information they need to choose the right school > produces unequal schools
• Formula funding> schools receive the same amount of funding for each pupil > more pupils= more funding > compete to attract a lot of pupils to school
• allowing parents and others to set up free schools

Question 10

What is parentocracy & how do those who favour it say it benefits education?

Answer 10

• David describes marketised education as a parentocracy (ruled by parents)
• supporters claims it encourages diversity among schools, gives parents more choice & raises standards

Question 11

What does the publication of league tables encourage and explain these concepts?

Answer 11

• parents attracted to those with good league table rankings
• Bartlett> encourages cream skimming & silt shifting
• CS= ‘Good’ schools can be more selective, choose their customers & recruit high achieving pupils (m/c)
• SS= ‘Good’ schools can avoid taking less able pupils (w/c) who are likely to get poor results & damage league table position
• opposite applies for schools with poor league table positions

Question 12

What are the characteristics of the privileged skilled choosers identified by Gewirtz?

Answer 12

• professional m/c parents who used their economic & cultural capital to gain educational capital for their children
• possess cultural capital > knew how admissions systems work
• could afford to move their children around education system

Question 12

What are the characteristics of the disconnected -local choosers identified by Gewirtz?

Answer 12

• mainly working-class parents whose choices were restricted by their lack of economic & cultural capital
• found it difficult to undertsand school admissions procedures
• less able to manipulate system to their advantage
• costs & travel were major restrictions on their choice of school

Question 13

Why does Ball argue that parentocracy is a myth?

Answer 13

• education system seems as if it is based on parents having a free choice of school but this is a myth - - not all parents have the same freedom to choose which school to send their children to
• myth of parentocracy makes inequality in education appear fair & inevitable

Question 14

What were the New Labour policies aimed at reducing inequality?

Answer 14

• education action zones> providing deprived areas with additional resources
• aim higher programme> raise the aspirations of groups who are under-represented in higher education
• Education maintenance allowances> payments to students from low-income backgrounds to encourage them to stay after 16 to gain better qualifications
• national literacy strategy> reducing primary classes & increase literacy & numeracy hours

Question 15

What is the new labour paradox?

Answer 15

• contradiction between labours policies and its commitment to marketisation
• e.g. introducing EMA but increasing university tuition fees defers people from going university

Question 16

What did the conservative led coalition governments accelerate the move away from in 2015?

Answer 16

• an education system based largely on comprehensive schools run by local authorities

Question 17

What was Cameron’s aim of the Coalition education policy?

Answer 17

• to encourage excellence competition & innovation by freeing schools from the dead hand of the state

Question 18

What was the academies policy?

Answer 18

• schools encouraged to leave local authority control & become academies
• funding taken from local authority budgets & give directly to academies by the government
• given control over the curriculum

Question 19

What was the free school policies?

Answer 19

• free schools were set up and run by parents, teachers, faith organisations etc
• supporters claim they improve educational standards by taking control away from the state & giving power to parents
• give parents opportunity to create new school if they are unhappy with the one in the area

Question 20

What criticism have been made about free schools?

Answer 20

• Allen (2010) argues research from Sweden where 20% of schools are free schools > only benefit children from highly educated families
• evidence also show that free schools take fewer disadvantaged student than nearby schools