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y Sociology : Education > Educational policy > Flashcards

Educational policy Flashcards

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1
Q

What is educational policy ?

A

Service provided to the vast majority of British children

Oversea the way education is run through the production and enforcement of their policies

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2
Q

The tripartite system

A
  • 1944
  • Children would take the 11+ and those who passed would be sent to Grammar schools, those who failed would be sent to secondary moderns or technical schools
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3
Q

Benefits of the tripartite system

A
  • Helped sift and sort pupils according to ability meaning they could persue a secondary ed. which better suited their needs
  • First time Britain introduced compulsory education + seen as meritocratic
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4
Q

Criticisms of the tripartite system

A
  • failed to enact social mobility
  • reinforced gender inequalities by making it more difficult for girls to pass the 11+ so women often placed in a secondary modern where they could study home economics and childcare
  • Maintained class inequalities, the majority of those in grammar schools were M.C. due to being able to afford tuition + there was a middle class habitus
  • Unis ended up being M.C.
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5
Q

Comprehensive system + aims

A
  • 1965

- Aimed to : remove the 11+ requirement, introduce a catchment system and introduce a national curriculum

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6
Q

Failures of the comprehensive system

A
  • Unlike Acts, LEAs were not obligated to replace their tripartite system with a comprehensive one and many initially refused
  • Due to it being based on pupils attending local schools, social mixing didn’t happen
  • There are practices in comprehensive schools eg setting, streaming and negative labelling
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7
Q

Successes of the comprehensive system

A
  • equal opportunities eg same curriculum
  • The comp system acknowledged that 11 year olds developed at different times
  • enables social integration
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8
Q

Shift to neoliberalism in politics

A
  • Thatcher 1979 : free market politics, limited government intervention, competitive and marketisation
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9
Q

Education reform act

A
  • 1988
  • aimed to reduce state control over schools + encourage the marketisation of schools
  • Reforms included : removal of catchment areas and replacement with open enrolments, introduction of a national curriculum and the same national assessments so the results could be comparable, introduce league tables, establish ofsted and introduction of the formula funding
  • created a more competitive system
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10
Q
  1. Raises the standards of education overall (Marketisation)
A
  • Raises the standards of education overall
  • NR claim its raises standards because schools are dependent on the custom of parents so they need to work harder to be successful
  • funding wasn’t guaranteed so teachers have more motivation to work hard and support the pupils who need it
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11
Q
  1. Helps reduce inequalities in achievement (marketisation)
A
  • Helps reduce inequalities in achievement
  • schools in areas with issues eg poverty must work hard to gain funding so teachers are more likely to provide effective support for disadvantaged pupils specifically the formula funding is a motivator
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12
Q

Why marketisation is effective ?

A
  1. Raises the standards of education overall
  2. Helps reduce inequalities in achievement
  3. Marketisation gives parents more control in education
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13
Q

Criticisms of the effectiveness of marketisation

A
  1. There are a number of barriers which effect a school’s success eg demographic makeup of pupils
    It is too simplistic to say schools will do better because odd being motivated to work harder
  2. There is no guarantee that the funding formula will genuinely help reduce inequalities in achievement - there are external factors
  3. Not true for all parents eg WC likely to be less knowledgeable
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14
Q

Challenges to parentocracy

A
  • Gewitz : found there were 3 types of parents when selecting a good school
  • skilled privileged choosers (MC, Economic capital and knew to look at ofsted reports)
  • Disconnected local choosers (WC, lacked cultural capital, placed a high value on the schools appearance, lacked economic capital so sent their kids to the closest school)
  • Semi-skilled choosers (WC but more ambitious, lacked cultural capital, wanted them to go to a good school but lacked knowledge on the application process)
  • Ball agrees saying it also helps justify inequality as it reinforces the myth of meritocracy
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15
Q

Challenges to marketisation (general not the theories)

A
  • Marketisation encourages schools to be more selective in their recruitment
  • Ball = schools are under immense pressure to achieve good gcse results
  • Barlett = this encourages schools to cream skim eg white mc pupils and silt sift eg only offer applications online so only affluent families can access it
  • Schools who underperform cannot be selective thus a cycle of underperforming occurs each year
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16
Q

Challenges to the funding formula bringing about equality

A
  • Not all schools benefit from this system as it creates a cycle if exam results aren’t good, not many parents send their child to a school, it gets less funding and this cyclic effect continues
  • Schools who are struggling are unable to invest in which will help them achieve eg better teachers and resources so they are unable to better their situation
  • This creates further divides within pupils from different backgrounds
  • Underachieving schools then become filled with disconnected parents (tending to be WC) so this means inequalities continue
17
Q

Challenges to the view that marketisation is more effective

A
  1. Marketisation encourages schools to be more selective in their recruitment
  2. Parentocracy is a myth
  3. Formula funding creates a cycle of inequalities between schools
18
Q

Criticism of the challenges to the view that marketisation is effective (general)

A
  1. More pupils are encouraged to take pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and given more funding for doing so
  2. system is still preferable to the comprehensive one, at least there is room for manoeuvre
  3. Pupils from disadvantaged schools receive more funding
19
Q

Marketisation under New Labour

A
  • Supported marketisation but added lost of policies :
    1. Est the Aim Higher programme which helped pupils in deprived areas
    2. Funding the education maintenance allowance eg £30 per week
    3. Overhauled the A-level curriculum by sitting exams in modules
    4. Banned the creation of new selective grammar schools
  • Blair wanted to raise aspirations and achievements of those from disadvantaged backgrounds
20
Q

Criticisms of New labour

A
  • Policies are contradictory as they also increased tuition fees for uni
  • Also failed to challenge the existence of private education
21
Q

Marketisation since 2010

A
  • 2011 Education Act by Gove under Cameron
    1. Introduction of academies and free schools (more freedom from the government)
    2. Introduction of pupil premium for schools who recruit disadvantaged pupils
    3. Overhaul of the curriculum to make GCSEs and A levels more academic + reduced coursework
    4. Scrapped the Education Maintenance Allowance
    5. Raised tuition fees to £9000 believed it would raises standards
  • Argued that this helped restore high standards in education + help supports disadvantaged pupils
22
Q

Critics of Education policy post 2010

A
  • Funding cuts have worsened the education gap eg free schools can be more selective
  • Many schools are struggling financially and the closure of schools (COVID) has highlighted the inconsistencies
23
Q

Marketisation leading to privatisation

A
  • Funded by an individual company

- Money making opportunities for schools have been enabled through privatisation eg building work and teachers

24
Q

4 ways marketisation has led to privatisation of educational services

A
  1. State education can act as a base for private business opportunities
  2. Schools have undergone a process of coloisation
  3. There are more opportunities for public-private partnerships
  4. British educational policy and practice has globalised
25
Q

State education can act as a base for private business opportunities

A
  • Pollock
  • Many people who work in state education go on to pursue career opportunities in the private sector with the skills they’ve learnt
  • Many ex-teachers will go on to work for private inspection companies
  • Exam boards are privately run companies primarily made up of current and former teachers who write assessments
  • Blurring of public/private boundaries and platform for profit making
26
Q

Schools have undergone a process of colaisation

A
  • Molnar
  • Schools often act as a base for other companies to sell their products
  • Colaisation = when schools show brand loyalty to certain companies eg seen in vending machines where only certain snacks or water are available
  • Connections with specific stationary companies eg with discounted rates or selling products at school
  • Sometimes there are short-term deals to schools in exchange for products sold eg 2005 Tescos “computers for schools” campaign in which vouchers were given for every £10 spent to donate to schools
  • Idea is that both the school and business benefit from the relationship
  • However for every £110,000 tescos made, only 1 computer was donated
27
Q

There are more opportunities for public private partnerships

A
  • Increasingly common for schools and private businesses to work collaboratively together in long term contracts
  • Eg some building companies dedicate their services to schools by providing renovation which the schools then pay for through grants, PTA, or charities
  • This creates a win-win situation as the building company makes a profit from a reliable source, the schools benefits from its new facilities and any donations are recognised and gain status
28
Q

British educational policy and practice has globalised

A
  • Practices in the UK have been packaged up and sold to international clients for profit
  • Eg British international schools have been set up in which parents pay vast sums for the british curriculum
  • Tend to be set up by british teachers and staffed (provides them with opportunities to advance their careers and gain experience)
  • Exam boards then sell their papers to these schools (generally at a higher price) so these pupils can sit GCSEs and A-levels
  • Many of the international schools are run by British based academy chains
  • Many suppliers of resources to Britain eg Pearson/edexel are international companies which highlights how british education contributes towards profits internationally for businesses
29
Q

Supporters of privatisation

A
  • Gives schools more control over their finances and resources by enabling them to set up contracts with who they wish
  • Provides staff with more opportunities
30
Q

Critics of privatisation

A
  • Education no longer provides us what we need eg schools have become preoccupied with managing finances
  • Education has become a money making scheme focused on finances instead of education children
  • By forcing schools to collaborate with private companies, it reduces the amount of responsibility the government have
31
Q
  1. Marketisation gives parents more control in education (Marketisation)
A
  1. Marketisation gives parents more control in education (creates a parentocracy)
    - David : these policies encourage a parentocracy, rule by parent, where parents can voice their dissatisfactions which encourages schools to work harder

y Sociology : Education (5 decks)

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