Educational Policy Flashcards
Selection: Tripartite System - based on idea of innate ability
- Education Act (1944): children were selected + allocated according to their ability, judged by the 11+ exam.
- Grammar Schools - academic curriculum; non-manual jobs; mainly m/c.
- Secondary Modern - non-academic; manual work; failed 11+ exam; w/c.
- Technical Schools - existed in a few areas only.
- Reproduced class inequality + gender - girls needed higher marks to enter grammar.
Comprehensive School System (1965): abolished 11+ and schools, but streaming continued
- However, left up to local education authorities to decide, so grammar / secondary modern divide still existed.
- Functionalists: promotes social integration by mixing social classes; fairer system - have more time to develop abilities.
- Ford: little social mixing between classes due to streaming.
- Marxists: myth of meritocracy - justifies unequal achievement.
Marketisation - introduced market, consumer / parental choice + competition
- League tables + OFSTED - rank schools based on exam results.
- Business sponsorships.
- Specialist schools - widen parental choice, e.g. IT, languages.
- Formula funding - schools receive money based on number of pupils.
- Allowing parents to set up free schools.
- Academies - schools opt out of local authority controls.
Ball
- Myth of parentocracy - exam league tables + funding formula creates school inequalities.
- Fragmentation - patchwork of diverse provision, involving private providers + inequality of opportunities;
- Centralisation of control - government has power to require schools to become academies, funded by state.
- Education service industry - transfer of schools to private companies.
Bartlett
- Cream skimming - select high achieving m/c students.
- Silt-shifting - avoid poor resulting w/c students.
Gewirtz
Differences in parent’s economic + cultural capital.
- Privileged-skilled choosers - m/c; understand school’s admission system; economic capital to move to a better school area.
- Disconnected-local choosers - w/c; restricted by lack of capital - distance + travel were major restrictions on their choices.
- Semi-skilled choosers - w/c; ambitious for their children.
Allen
In Sweden, 20% of schools are free schools, which only benefits children from highly educated families.
New Labour
- City academies - supported struggling inner-city schools with w/c students.
- Increased funding for state education.
- However, New Labour didn’t abolish fee-paying private schools.
Coalition Government
- Influences from Neo-Liberal + New Right ideologies.
- Cut Sure Start + Education Maintenance Allowance - reduced opportunities for w/c students, e.g. discourage higher education.
- Introduced: Free School Meals - reception, yr1 + 2; Pupil Premium - money schools receive for disadvantaged pupils.
OFSTED
Found that in many cases the Pupil Premium is not spent on those it is meant to help.
Academies (2012)
- 1/2 secondary schools converted to academies; funded by educational businesses + funded by state.
- Labour targeted disadvantaged area, but Coalition removed the focus on inequality.
- Hall: academies are an example of handing over public services to private capitalism.
Beder
Cola-isation of schools - UK families spent £110,000 in Tesco for one computer for schools.
Privatisation: Ethnicity
- Assimilation - assimilate into mainstream British culture.
- Multicultural education - value all cultures in school curriculum.
- Social inclusion - English as an Additional Language program (EAL).
- Gillborn: institutionally racist policies in relation to ethnocentric curriculum + streaming still disadvantage EM groups.
Ringrose
- Moral panic about failing boys becoming unemployed u/c that threatens social stability has led to a policy shift.
- Narrowing policies to ‘failing boys’ ignores w/c + ethnic problems.
- Ignores girls’ problems: sexual harassment, self-esteem.
GIST + WISE
- WISE - Women in Science + Engineering.
- GIST - Girls into Science + Technology.
- Female scientists visit schools.
- However, ineffective policy - Institute of Physics (2012): girls picking A-Level physics = 20% for 20 years.
