Educational Policy Flashcards
Name the 7 parts of the timeline of education
1870- Education for all Act
1944- Butler Act
1965- Comprehensives (Labour)
1988- Education Act
1997-2010 - New Labour
2010-15 - Coalition policies
2015 - Conservative policies
What was the 1870 Education for all Act?
Created ‘Elementary Schools’ where there was no church school.
Provided some free education to age 10
(School compulsory 5-13 in 1880)
What were the advantages of the Education for all Act?
+ Patchwork provision (more unified schooling across the country)
+ Children removed from the workplace
What were the disadvantages of the Education for all Act?
- Still expected to pay and provide equipment
- Many families income was reduced (child no longer working)
What was the 1944 Butler Act?
+ what type of system is this?
Created a formal, state funded education.
Students would sit an 11+ exam and then be sent to one of 3 schools:
- Grammar school (selection by ability)
- Secondary Modern
- Secondary Technical (vocational)
+ tripartite
What were the advantages of the Butler Act?
+ Equality of opportunity (anyone can take it and anyone can pass)
+ Meant to be meritocratic (hard work=success)
+ Parity of esteem (hold them all just as worthy)
+ Provides a ‘free private education’ for some
+ Allows poorer students to get better GCSE results
+ Social mobility increased
What were the disadvantages of the Butler Act?
+ 2 statistics
- Impact on self-confidence of working class kids
- Middle class children more likely to get in (tutors)
- Difference in age (Aug vs Sep)
- Intellectual snobbery
- Limited technical schools and these require lots of funding
- Lack of differentiation in schools
- Wasted talent in secondary moderns
3% vs 17% on free school meals (SM vs grammar)
25% grammar students are working class
What was the 1965 move to Comprehensives?
+ what happened in 1974?
British government backs the move to ‘comprehensive schools’ by introducing the ‘CSE’
1974- DES Circular
The organisation of secondary education reinstated the request that LEAs should submit plans for comprehensivisation
What were the advantages of the move to comprehensives?
+ inequalities of the tripartite system have been removed (e.g GCSEs marked equally for both sexes)
+ offers a diverse curriculum, specialist teachers and free exams
+ GCSE and A-Level pass rates rising
(98% leave with at least 1 qualification)
What were the disadvantages of the move to Comprehensives?
- Schools reflect their catchment areas (less affluent normally get worse results)
- Setting is just a reinvention of tripartite
- Smarter children are “dummed down” as teachers are only teaching to the middle level
- Richer children can go private or get tutors
- Struggles in the transitional stages (e.g bullying, new curriculum, self- doubt )
What was the 1988 Education Act?
- Parents given more choice over which schools to send their children to
- open enrolment & formula funding introduced
- schools encouraged to compete for students
- league tables & Ofsted
- introduction of ‘National Curriculum’
- SATs introduced at all key stages
What were the advantages of the 1988 Education Act?
+ parents have more choice
+ results have risen
+ schools have to up their game
+ clear achievement data
+ schools can pay for better teachers
+ Nat curriculum means same things are taught making choice easier
+ oversubscribed can select via criteria
What were the disadvantages of the 1988 Education Act?
- people can’t afford to live in catchment areas for best schools
- creativity of teachers is stifled
- polarisation of schools occurs
- self- fulfilling prophecy created
- zombie schools can appear
- reproduces inequality
- good schools can be more selective
What is the marketisation of education?
The idea endorsed by the New Right that schools should act like businesses and compete for students through Ofsted & league tables.
The choice for parents drives up the standards especially due to formula funding.
+ ‘New Vocationalism’ = preparing young people for work
What are sociological views on marketisation?
+ ‘parentocracy’ (parents have power) - David
+ reproduces inequality - Ball & Whitey
+ encourages cream skimming and silt sifting - Bartlett
What is Gerwitz’s opinion on marketisation?
Parents can be split into 3 groups due to different economic & cultural capital levels which causes inequalities:
- Privileged skilled choosers:
+ well-educated
+ aware of how system works
+ can move house or pay for transport - Disconnected local choosers
+ less confident & less aware of choices
+ distance & travel costs restrict them - Semi skilled choosers
+ ambitious but unable to make sense of education market
+ frustration of being unable to get kids into chosen school