Education - Social Policy Flashcards
Education Pre 1833
No state education
The rich could pay for education
Education in 1880
School became compulsory from 5 - 13
M/C were given academic education, W/C were given vocational education
Education in 1944
The tripartite system:
- 11+ exam was introduced
- Children were sorted into grammar and secondary modern schools
Education in 1965
Comprehensive School System:
- All children attended the same type of school
Education from 1988
Marketisation:
- Schools are ran like businessess
- Aimed at increasing standards and competition
What is the tripartite system?
Pupils were sorted into different schools after the 11+ exam in their final year of primary school
(Grammar, Secondary Modern, Technical)
Characteristics of Grammar schools
- Elitist
- Focused on exams and academics
- Majority middle-class
- Access to higher education
Characteristics of Secondary Modern
- Mainly working class
- For those who failed the 11+ exam
- Focused on manual labour
Characteristics of Technical schools
- Very few people attended them
Why do some sociologists criticise the tripartite system?
Argue it reproduces inequality within society
- Separated the social classes
- Created unequal opportunities
- Reproduced gender inequality as girls needed a higher score than boys to go to grammar school
How might Functionalists view the tripartite system?
- Helps with role allocation
- Meritocratic = everyone sits the same test
- Viewed positively
How might Marxists view the tripartite system?
- Unfair system
- Produces further inequality
What is the comprehensive school system? (1965)
- All students are taught all subjects under one roof
- Wanted to remove inequality
- Encouraged meritocracy as (in theory) everyone is taught the same content to the same level
- However, it was the local authorities decision to go comprehensive or not, and many didn’t
How would Marxists view the comprehensive system?
- Serves the interests of capitalism
- Legitimises class inequality
How would Functionalists view the comprehensive system?
- Promotes social integration between classes
- Meritocratic
What did Julienne Ford find about social integration in comprehensive schools?
(1969)
She found little social mixing between the classes, largely due to streaming
What was the 1988 Education Reform Act?
- Introduced by Margaret Thatcher + Conservative government
- Shift away from state involvement
- Emphasis on competitiveness to increase standards
What did the 1997 New Labour do?
- Tony Blair + Gordan Brown
- Continued many of Thatcher’s policies
What did the 2010 Conservative-Lib Dem coalition do?
- David Cameron + Nick Clegg
- Pushed academisation
- Pushed free schools
What is Parentocracy?
(Miriam David 1993)
Rule by parents
- When the power shifts from the producers (schools) to the consumers (parents + students)
What does parentocracy do?
Provides more variety and a tailored education to suit the needs of the students
What do some sociologists argue about marketisation?
It has helped to reproduce inequalities in the education system
What did Bartlett (1993) say that league tables allow schools to do?
- Cream-skimming
- Silt-Shifting
What is Cream-skimming?
- Schools choose their own pupils
- High achievers are recruited
- Mostly m/c students
What is Silt-Shifting?
- The worse performing students are filtered out
- Prevents damage to the league tables
Why is Cream-Skimming and Silt-Shifting bad for w/c pupils?
- Harder for them to get a place in a good school
- Proximity to the school is prioritised, which is difficult for w/c pupils as those areas are more expensive
What is The Funding Formula?
Successful schools get more money as they enroll more students, which leaves other schools with less funding
What did Getwirtz say about Parental Choice?
There are 3 types of parents:
- Privileged-skilled choosers
- Semi-skilled choosers
- Disconnected-local choosers
What is a Privileged-skilled chooser?
- Mainly professional m/c parents
- Use their economic and cultural capital to gain educational capital for their children
- Confident and well-educated
- Takes full advantage of their choices
What is a Semi-skilled chooser?
- Mainly w/c
- Ambitious for their children but found the education market confusing
- Had to rely on others’ opinions
- Frustrated they couldn’t get their children into the best schools
What is a Disconnected-local chooser?
- W/C parents
- Choices limited by their lack of cultural + economic capital
- Less confident and less aware of the choices available
- Distance + cost of travel were issues
What is the myth of parentocracy?
(Stephan Ball)
- Argues that marketisation gives the appearance of free choice but that isn’t what actually happens
- The middle class has advantages over the w/c
What did the New Labour 1997 - 2010 gov aim to do?
Aimed to reduce the amount of inequality in society by focusing on education
What policies did New Labour implement?
- Education Action Zones
- Aim Higher Programme
- Education Maintenance Allowance
- National Literacy Strategy
Why did Benn (2012) criticise New Labour?
Believed that the policies were contradictory as many of the policies still aligned to marketisation
Characteristics of Academies
- Publicly funded independent schools
- Not controlled by the local authorities
- Don’t have to follow the national curriculum
- Many are sponsored by businesses, faith groups, unis, and other schools
Characteristics of Free Schools
- Set up and run by parents, teachers, faith organisations or businesses
- Take control away from the state
What did Aleen (2010) say about free schools?
Argues that research from Sweden shows that they only benefit children from highly educated families
