Educational Policy

Question 1

Finn? Critical Marxist thinker of vocationalism

Answer 1

Vocational education is used to make young people employable in terms of making sure they aquire the right attitudes for low paid and low skilled work.

Doesn’t create more job opportunities as it is a lack of jobs, not lack of skills that is the cause of economic recession.

YTS aimed at reducing wage level of young people, employers use YTS for cheap labour.
YTS is used to reduce embarassing employment statistics.
Vocational training took people off of the streets
Blame for unemployment shifted from the government to the individual.

Question 2

Cohen? Critical Marxist thinker of vocationalism

Answer 2

Real function of youth training schemes was to cultivate good attitudes
Youth training de-skilled rather than re-skilled the workforce
Youth training about social control because it was a way of screening young people for recruitment choosing recruits from a pool of cheap trainees.

Question 3

Thompson? Critical Marxist thinkers of vocationalism

Answer 3

Youth training to produce a pool of low skilled workers
Function of YT was to produce a pool of low-skilled, cheap labour for capitalism. Reserve army of labour to be brought in during economic booms and thrown out in slumps.

Question 4

Conservative policies (1979-1995) about raising standards?

Answer 4

New vocationalism:
-Youth Training Schemes: ‘for neets’, on the job training
NVQ’s: National vocational qualification , popular with trade jobs
GNVQ: General National Qualifications training in key sectors e.g. health and social care

Educational Reform Act:
- National curriculum, at each key stage in schools have a number of educational objectives were achieved. Standardised education.

SATs: introduced standardised testing and tracked progress and quality

Question 5

New Labour policies (1997-2010) about raising standards?

Answer 5

14-19 Diploma: respected route into higher education or direst employment. Different vocations e.g. media, didn’t do GCSEs

Embedding literacy and numeracy: into all lessons to develop skills and prepare for the workplace to raise standards.

City Academies: Failing schools given the opportunity to claim academy status, and able to recieve extra funding. Access to support from sponsors.

EAZ/EiCs: Educational action zones. Schools divided into zones, best performing schools encouraged to work with failing schools. Excellence in cities: additional funding given to schools in disadvantaged areas e.g. money spent on breakfast clubs.

Question 6

Coalition policies (2010-2015) on raising standards?

Answer 6

Free schools: opened in areas where they are needed. State funded but set up by parents or teachers.

Adaption and expansion of academies: outstanding schools could now become academies, partially state funded and partially sponsored. Changed the original purpose of academies introduced by labour (saves money as a cost cutting exercise)

Question 7

Conservative policies (2015 - present)about raising standards?

Answer 7

Continuation and expansion of academies: outstanding institutions could apply to be academies. More freedom and potentially more funding. Aim for all students to be academies by 2022.

Linear A-Levels and change to GCSE grading system

Proposed expansion of grammar schools: revival and expansion of grammar schools - further choice to state funded education to parents (Theresa May claims this will raise standard for all pupils)

Question 8

Conservative policies (1979-1997) on equality of opportunity?

Answer 8

New Vocationalism: YTS, NVQs and GNVQs

Educational Reform Act:standardised education through national curriculum

Question 9

New Labour policies (1997-2010) about equality of opportunity?

Answer 9

New Deal: Aimed at unemployed ‘neets’ who were offered voluntary work/work with training/education for 6 months. Skills, purpose and job prospects

Compensatory Education:
Sure Start: set up to work with parents to be, parents and children to provide physical, intellectual, and social development of babies and young children. Sure start centres and additonal funding for w.c.
EMA: educational maintainance allowance
EAZ: Educational action zones where schools wree divided into zones and the best performing schools helped failing schools.

Raising school leaving age: children stay in education until 18, prevents the going straight into unemployment at 16.

Question 10

Coalition policies (2010-2015) about equality of opportunity?

Answer 10

Pupil Premium: Allocated to children from low income families, who were known to be eligable for FSM, and children who have been ‘looked after’. Money given directly to the schools for them to support students. Post 16 given access to bursaries.

Question 11

Conservative policies (2015-present) about equality of opportunity?

Answer 11

Pupil premium
COVID Catch up Fund: funding provided to supply catch up lessons to those with gaps in learning due to COVID.

GIST and WISE and introduction of coursework seen as ‘girl friendly’.
Equality and diversity initiatives and focus in National Curriculum.

Question 12

Conservative policies (1979-1997) about diversity and choice?

Answer 12

New Vocationalism: YTS, NVQs and GNVQs - more options for those who do not want to take an academic route

Eduacational Reform Act: marketisation and parentocracy: league tables introduced more competiton and choice

Question 13

New Labour policies (1997-1010) about diversity and choice?

Answer 13

City Academies: Failing schools given the opportunity to become academies to receive extra funding and support from sponsors

Curriculum 2000: Split the 2 year a level course in AS and A2, and new qualifications e.g. sport

New Diploma 2008: 14-19 diplomas, respected route into higher education, didn’t do GCSEs.

Question 14

Coalition policies (2010-2015) about diversity and choice?

Answer 14

Free schools: Opened in areas where they are needed. State funded but set up by parents or teachers.

Adaption and expansion of academies: outstanding schools could now become academies, partially state funded and partially sponsored. Changed the orignal purpose of academies introduced by Labour.

Question 15

Conservative policies (2015-present) about diversity and choice?

Answer 15

Proposed expansion of grammar schools: proposed revival and expansion of grammar schools to offer further choice for state funded education.

Continuation of Free Schools: Theresa May voted to build 140 more free schools (did not occur).

Continuation and adaption and expansion of academies: outstanding institutions could apply to be academies, more freedom and potentially more funding. Aim for all schools to be academies by 2022.

Question 16

Conservative policies (1979-1997) about meeting the needs of the economy?

Answer 16

YTS
NVQs
GNVQs
Educational Reform Act:
National Curriculum: at each key stage in schools a number of educational objectives must be achieved

Question 17

New Labour policies (1997-2010) about meeting the needs of the economy?

Answer 17

14-19 Diploma: Different vocations for those who didn’t do GCSEs.

New Deal: training for ‘neets’, if they didn’t do it then they would lose their job seekers allowance/benefits.

Literacy and numeracy: in all lessons to develop skills

Question 18

Coalition policies (2010-2015) about meeting the needs of the economy?

Answer 18

Adaption of Apprenticeships: ability to ‘learn whilst you earn’, minimum wage £3.50 per hour
GCSE/A-Level Reform: move away from modular assessment and coursework, and final exams after 2 years. Test more rigorously.

Question 19

Conservative policies (2015-present) about meeting the needs of the economy?

Answer 19

Further increase of Apprenticeships: Government has made a commitment to 3 million new apprenticeships by 2020.
GCSE grading system changed from 1-9.

Question 20

Green? Marxist criticism of vocationalism and opportunity

Answer 20

Taught basic and transferable skills related to unskilled/low paid jobs in the retail sector rather than craft skills (TAUGHT BASIC NOT CRAFT SKILLS)
YT and vocational courses transmit the message of good attitude is more important than the aquisition of skills.
YTS and GNVQs legitimise traditional class divisons because they are based on the idea that different classes should be educated differently, creating a new BIPARTISM.
Lower ability students tend to be chanelled into vocational courses.

Question 21

Davis and Biesta? eval of vocationalism

Answer 21

Criticised vocational studies: dull and reptitive, students used a cheap labour, good way as masking unemployment statistics.
Praise it: some get valuable experience leading to jobs and helping the economy.

Question 22

De Wall? eval of vocationalism

Answer 22

New Vocationalism qualifications (e.e. vocational GCSEs) do not teach vocational skills of any use and the qualifications are about occupying time.
Often little value in the outside world and damage the value of other vocational qualifications
Vocational qualifications can recreate divisions found in the tripartite system e.g. mc academic and w.c. vocational.

Question 23

Evans? eval of vocationalism

Answer 23

Quality of training offered in vocational education was poor. Low skilled workers received poor training and well qualified received more.

Question 24

Millar? Choice and opportunity evalb

Answer 24

Choice in schools is still an illusion. Different types of schools exist but they aren’t available to all.
For middle class children, if they can’t get into a good school they had the escape route of the independant sector. Means that local schools missed the best students sso behavioural issues developed.
poorer pupils are less able to exercise choice because they cannot afford to move house or travel to better schools. e.g. academically selective schools hae fewer students on FSM.
The Which Survey: 40% of parents did not feel that they took an active role in deciding what school to send their children too.
Criticises parentocracy

Question 25

Wragg? eval of choice

Answer 25

Choice is an illusion
‘One person’s choice is another’s restriction because choice is unevenly distributed’
‘Children at the bottom suffer - schools recruit the brightest children’
Too much testing, students aren’t learning they are just trying to pass the exams. ‘trapped in an education system driven by testing’
Competition between schools has led to schools with the brightest children getting more money.

‘Victorian railway carriage’
1 st class = Eton, Harrow onto Oxbridge
2nd class = grammar and outstanding comprehensive schools onto Russell group unis
3rd class = unsatisfactory comprehensives to other unis and polytechnic unis.

The type of university students go to differs e.g. Wolverhampton and Bradford take 45% of intake from working classes, Oxford and Cambridge 11%.
Under the Labour government vocational courses struggle to gain same levels of self esteem.

Question 26

Bordieu? Marxist Choice and opportunity evaluation

Answer 26

Cultural, economic and social capital may limit ability to exercise choice

Question 27

Gerwitz? Marxist Choice and opportunity evaluation

Answer 27

Middle class parents are the ‘privileged skilled choosers’ and working class parents are ‘disconnected choosers’ as they don’t have the right knowledge to be able to make informed decisions. The possession of cultural capital impacts this choice.

Question 28

Byrne? eval of choice

Answer 28

Migrant parents are less able to access information about schools, disadvantged by a lack of knowledge. Cannot make informed decisions.

Question 29

Raey and Lucey? eval of choice

Answer 29

Found ethnic minority pupils were more likely to attend schools with higher proportions of ethnic minority pupils as they felt safer (cultural comfort zones) even if it meant choosing worse performing school. Choice was limited for these students.

Question 30

Gillbourne? eval of opportunity

Answer 30

Teachers racist attitudes led them to believe that Afro-Caribbean students would cause trouble. Disproportinate amount of black students being entered into lower tiers.

Question 31

Jasper? eval of opportunity

Answer 31

States that schools are to blame as they refuse to tackle institutional racism and so black boys are demonised.
(and Coard and the ethnocentric curriculum).

Question 32

Davis and Moore? eval of raising standards

Answer 32

• and New Right

Criticise Labour parties spending to raise standards as they argue that education is meritocratic (role allocation)

Question 33

Usher at al? eval of raising standards

Answer 33

Postmodern thinker - argue it is difficult to raise standards for everyone if teaching happens through the national curriculum and standardised testing. Education should be more diverse.
Critical of standardised appraoch to education

Question 34

Illich? eval of raising standards?

Answer 34

Radical and Liberal thinker: education should be more about developing individuals through the use of learning webs.