Education: Recent Policies Flashcards
What do the New Right argue about Education?
- That education should promote social solidarity and teach specialist skills.
- The best way to teach being through marketisation of schools.
- Parental choice and competition between schools is encouraged.
What did the Conservative policies between 1979 and 1997 include?
Baker Education Reform Act (1998)
- Aimed to create an education market and competition between schools.
What are policies of New Right influence in Conservative governments?
- League Tables - which aim to ‘increase’ standards of competition between schools.
- Ofsted Inspections - Introduced in 1992 Education Act to act as regulation to schools for public access.
- SATs and National Curriculum - both used to standardize education with regular testing in order to create more competition between schools.
4. Parental choice and Open Enrolement - which allows more choice (marketisation)
- Opting out - allowing direct funding from the government instead of local authorities, leads to funding being dependent on performance and number of pupils.
What is the main overview of Labour Policies from 1997-2010?
Aim - help overcome the disadvantages of the education system and wider society.
- Marketisiation continued when influencing educational policies.
- Compensatory education which gave extra help to students from disadvantaged groups.
What did the Labour government do with Academies?
They were a new type of school that meant to support failing comprehensive schools in inner city areas.
- They had more independence and where able to more freely develop a curriculum under the national curriculum, whilst also chosing staff pay and term dates.
Was hoped it would raise standards with more independence.
What was Sure Start (1999)?
A programme that aimed to help pre-school children in deprived areas.
Included Home Visits and Play Centers
What was the ‘Excellence in cities’ Plan (1999)?
Aimed to improve inner-city areas to improve attainment levels, with extra funding being given to these schools to improve quality of school.
When and what was Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) implemented?
2004, which aimed to give finical support to those aged 16-19 to help encourage lower income families to stay in college.
Give an overview of Coalition government policies between 2010-2015?
The policies were mainly influenced by the New Right, and they aimed to reduce the role of the state in education.
What were some of the policies that the Coalition Government implemented?
- Cut EMA in 2010
- Introduced Free Schools - state funded independent schools that aimed to improve local community issues with their involvement.
- Reform to Exam System - changing AS and A Levels, and removing GCSE coursework.
- Increasing Tutition fees (UNI)
- New Style Academies - which encouraged all state schools to become academies.
- Pupil Premium- giving extra money to every school for each pupil eligible for FSM.
What did Ball, Bowles & Gerwitz argue about social policy?
They stated that League Tables have made schools just focus on streaming students to achieve high number of passes.
This leading to more of a class divide as the w/c are pushed aside to under performing schools.
What are some of the negative effects of marketisation of education?
Leads to m/c parents being able to get kids into better schools due to:
- afford transport and moving areas to better schools
- understanding how to compare and use league tables etc.
ALTHOUGH NOT ALL PARENTS MAKE CHOICE ON SCHOOL PERFORMANCE.
Tough & Brooks (2007):
M/c parents focus on league tables
M/c parents are more likely to choose schools close to home (myth of parentocracy)
What were criticisms of the Labour policies?
Geoff Whitty - argued a contradiction in policy
e.g. EMA to encourage w.c to stay in school, however tuition fees prevented the w/c going to further education
What are criticisms of the Coalition governments?
Sure Start centers were closed and spending on school buildings cut by 60%.
Ofsted found that pupil premium was not being spent on pupils and this created further inequality.
What were some effects of educational policy in relation to ethnicity and gender?
- Equality Act 2010 - protected people from discrimination in schools, employment etc.
- Ethinic Minority Achievement Grant - allocated extra educational support to local authorities.
- Equality and diversity in the curriculum, mandated by Ofsted allowed for more freedom of subject choice without discrimination.
- GIST/WISE and Equal pay act - improved girls in education.
- Removal of coursework in GCSE - negatively impacted girls
