educational policy and inequality

Question 1

what was the education system before the tripartite system?

Answer 1

1880 - compulsory schooling for ages 5-13
type of education depended on class:
middle class were given an academic curriculum to prepare them for professional careers
working class were equipes with skills needed for factory work and instilled an obedient attitude to superiors

Question 2

what was the tripartite system?

Answer 2

1944 education act
pupils sat 11+ exam
grammar schools: those who passed 11+, academic curriculum allowed access to non-manual jobs, mainly middle-class
secondary modern schools: those who failed 11+, practical curriculum allowed access to manual jobs, mainly working-class

(technical schools, existed in only a few areas)

Question 3

what were the effects of the tripartite system?

Answer 3

reproduced class inequality: by channeling social classes into two different types of school that offered unequal opportunities

legitimated class inequality: through the ideology that ability is inborn, so could be measured early on in life 11+

reproduced gender inequality: required girls to gain higher marks than boys in 11+ to obtain a grammar school place

Question 4

what is the comprehensive school system?

Answer 4

1965
abolished the 11+, all pupils attended the same local comprehensive school

aimed to overcome the class divide of the tripartite system and make education more meritocratic

however some areas didn’t go comprehensive and there are still 164 grammar schools in England

Question 5

what do functionalists say about the comprehensive system?

Answer 5

promote social integration by bringing children of different classes together in one school, however Ford found little social mixing between classes because of streaming

meritocratic because gives pupils longer time to develop and show their abilities, no 11+

Question 6

what do marxists say about the comprehensive system?

Answer 6

not meritocratic, they reproduce inequality through streaming and labelling which continue to deny working-class children equal opportunity

‘myth of meritocracy’ legitimates class inequality by making unequal achievement seem fair because it looks like its individuals fault not system

Question 7

what is marketisation?

Answer 7

the process of introducing market forces of consumer choice and competition into areas run by the state such as education

Question 8

how has marketisation created an ‘education market’?

Answer 8

reducing state control over education

increasing both competition between schools and parental choice of school

Question 9

what are policies to promote marketisation?

Answer 9

• publication of league tables that rank each school according to exam performance
• formula funding
• introduction of academies
• introduction of tuition fees

Question 10

when was marketisation initially introduced into education policy?

Answer 10

1988 education reform act introduced by Thatcher (new right)

introduced league tables, OFSTED, formula funding, open enrolment

Question 11

what does Bartlett say about reproduction of inequality in schools?

Answer 11

publishing of league tables encourages:
cream skimming: good schools can be more selective choosing high achieving mainly middle class pupils
silt-shifting: good schools can avoid taking less able student who will get poor results

Question 12

what is the funding formula?

Answer 12

schools are funded on how many pupils they recruit, so good schools get more money, can improve staffing/facilities and attract more pupils

Question 13

what do Ball and Whitty say?

Answer 13

marketisation policies such as exam league tables and the funding formula reproduce class inequalities

Question 14

what do supporters of marketisation claim?

Answer 14

power shifts from producers (schools and teachers) to consumers (parents), this encourages diversity among schools, gives parents more choice and raises standards

Question 15

what does Gewirtz say about parental choice?

Answer 15

by increasing parental choice, marketisation advantages middle-class parents

privileged-skilled choosers: economic and cultural capital take advantage of the system e.g. pay extra travel costs

disconnected-local choosers: lack capital and have to settle for the nearest school e.g. restricted by distance and cost of travel

semi-skilled choosers: frustrated by their inability to get the school they wanted

Question 16

what is the myth of parentocracy?

Answer 16

marketisation legitimates inequality by making it look as if all parents are equally free to choose a good school, but Gerwitz shows that middle class parents are better able to take advantage of the choice available

Question 17

what are policies aimed at reducing inequality?

Answer 17

New Labour:

• education action zones, providing deprived areas with additional resources
• aim higher programme, raise aspiration of groups who are under-represented in higher education
• education maintenance allowance, payments to students from low income backgrounds to encourage them to stay on after 16 to get better qualifications

Question 18

criticisms of New Labour policies?

Answer 18

policies are contradictory ‘new labour paradox’ e.g. EMAs help poorer pupils stay on post-16, but they now have to pay tuition fees

they maintained marketisation policies, how can competition work without producing inequality, all markets produce losers and winners

Question 19

what main education policies did the coalition government introduce?

Answer 19

aimed to encourage ‘excellence, competition and innovation’ by freeing schools from the state

academies: schools encouraged to become academies funded by central government rather than local authorities

free schools: state-funded but set up and run by parents, teachers, religious groups or businesses

Question 20

what do supporters of free schools claim?

Answer 20

improve educational standards by taking control away from the state and giving power to parents

gives parents and teachers the opportunity to create a new school if they are unhappy with the state schools in their area

Question 21

what are criticisms of free schools?

Answer 21

research from Sweden where 20% of schools are free schools, shows that they only benefit children from highly educated families

in England, free schools take less disadvantaged pupils than nearby schools

Question 22

what is fragmented centralisation?

Answer 22

Ball argues that we now have a fragmented patchwork instead of the comprehensive system, leading to greater inequality

education is also now more centralised, government can require schools to become academies and allow free schools to be set up, reduced role of local authorities

Question 23

what policies did the coalition government introduce that aimed at reducing inequality?

Answer 23

free school meals: for all children in reception, year one and year two
the pupil premium: money that schools receive for each pupil from a disadvantaged background

however Ousted found in many cases pupil premium is not spent on those it is supposed to help

Question 24

why is the boundary between the public and private sector being blurred?

Answer 24

many senior officials in the public sector e.g. head teachers leave to set up or work for private sector education businesses

companies then bid for contracts to provide services to schools and local authorities e.g. two companies set up in this way hold four of the five national contracts for school inspection services

Pollack says it allows companies to buy ‘insider knowledge’ to help win contracts

Question 25

what is the cola-isation of schools?

Answer 25

private sector penetrating education indirectly e.g. through vending machines on school premises

Molnar says schools are targeted by private sectors because they carry enormous goodwill and legitimacy (a product endorsement)

however, benefits to schools of private sector are limited, UK families spent £110,00 in Tesco supermarkets in return for a single computer

Question 26

how is education a commodity?

Answer 26

Ball
privatisation is becoming more prevalent in education, educational services are moving to be provided by private companies

thus education is a legitimate object of private profit making, a commodity to be bought and sold

Question 27

what do marxists say about coalition government policies?

Answer 27

academies are an example of handling over public services to private capitalists such as educational businesses

the claim that privatisation and competition drive up standards is a myth used to legitimate education as a source of private profit

Question 28

what policies impact gender differences in achievement?

Answer 28

under tripartite system, girls had to achieve a higher mark than boys in 11+ to obtain a grammar school place

policies have been introduced to try and reduce gender differences in subject choice e.g. GIST

Question 29

what are the three stages of policies relating to ethnicity?

Answer 29

assimilation
multicultural education
social inclusion

Question 30

what policies encouraged assimilation of ethnic minorities?

Answer 30

1960s to 70s
aimed to encourage assimilation of ethnic minorities into mainstream British culture as a way of raising their achievement e.g. English as a second language programmes

Question 31

what policies focused on multicultural education?

Answer 31

1980s and 90s
aimed to promote achievements of ethnic minorities by valuing all cultures in the school curriculum, in turn raising self-esteem and achievements e.g. black studies in national curriculum

Question 32

how are assimilation policies criticised?

Answer 32

some minority groups who generally underachieve e.g. African carribean pupils, already speak English, other causes for underachievement

Question 33

how are multicultural education policies criticised?

Answer 33

black pupils don’t fail for lack of self-esteem so policies are misguided

new right criticise for perpetuation cultural divisions, education should promote a shared national culture into which minorities are assimilated

Question 34

what policies focus on social inclusion?

Answer 34

detailed monitoring of exam result by ethnicity

amending race relations act to place a legal duty on schools to promote racial equality

Question 35

how are social inclusion policies criticised?

Answer 35

gillborn says institutionally racist policies e.g. ethnocentric curriculum, assessment and streaming continue to disadvantage ethnic minority pupils

Question 36

what is the globalisation of education policy?

Answer 36

private companies in the education services industry are foreign owned e.g. edexcel is owned by US company Pearson, some GCSE exam answers are marked in Sydney and Iowa

private companies are exporting UK education policy to other countries e.g. Ofsted type inspections and providing the services to deliver the policies, so nation-states are less important in policy making

Question 37

what is globalisation?

Answer 37

increased interconnectedness of different areas of the world