educational policies Flashcards
education policy in britain before 1988
there were no state schools, before 1833, the state spent no public money on education
the state made schooling compulsory from ages 5-18 in 1880
The tripartite system
the 1944 education act bought in the tripartite system
Grammar schools:pupils with academic ability who passed the 11+- mainly middle class
Secondary modern school: non academic practical curriculum and access to manual work for pupils who failed the 11+- mainly working class
comprehensive school system
introduced in areas from 1965 onwards
aimed to overcome class divide of tripartite system and make education more meritocratic
11+, grammar and secondary schools were abolished
marketisation
introducing market forces of consumer choice and competition between suppliers into areas run by the state, such as education
who favours marketisation and why?
Neoliberals and new right
They argue schools have to attract customers (parents)by competing with each other in the market. schools will provide customers with what they want- such as success in exams-will thrive and those that don’t will go out of business
parentocracy: policies to promote marketisation
- puplication of league tables and ofsted reports
- business sponsorship of schools
- open enrollment
- specialist schools
- formula funding
- introduction of tuition fees for higher education
The reproduction of inequality
stephan Ball and Geof Witty note how marketisation polices such as exam league tables and the funding formula reproduce class inequalities by creating inequalities between schools
Cream-skimming
‘good’ schools can be more selective, choose their own customers and recruit high achieving, mainly middle class students- these pupils gain an advantage
silt-shifting
‘good’ schools can avoid taking less able pupils who are likely to get poor results and damage the schools league table position
the funding formula for popular schools
schools are allocated funds by a formula based on how many pupils they attract
this means popular schools get more funds so can afford better qualified teachers and better facilities
the funding formula for unpopular schools
unpopular schools lose income and find it difficult to match teacher skills and facilities of their most successful rivals
Gerwitz: parental choice
parents economic and cultural capital lead to class differences
privileged skilled-choosers
mainly professional middle class parents being prosperous, well educated and confident makes them able to take full advantage of choices open to them
semi-skilled choosers
working class parents who were ambitious for their children- lacked cultural capital so relied on other peoples opinions
New labour government on inequality
- designating some deprived areas as education action zones, providing them with additional resources
- the aim higher programme to raise aspirations of groups who are under-represented
- education maintenance allowances EMAs, payments to students from low income backgrounds to encourage them to stay on after 16.