educational policy and inequality

Question 1

how did industrialization affect education

Answer 1

industrialization meant that there was an increased need for an educated workforce. because of this the state began to be more involved in education., the state realized the importance of education and in 1880 made school compulsory between the ages of 5 - 13

Question 2

how did the students class background affect them in 1880 onwards.

Answer 2

the type of education that children recieved depended on their socail class background, and often the education that they did recieve would do very little to change their ascribed status.

Question 3

when was the tripartite system introduced and what was it based on.

Answer 3

from 1994 education was heavily influenced by meritocracy, and as such the 1944 education reform act brought about the tripartite system.

Question 4

what is meritocracy

Answer 4

meritocracy is the idea that individuals should achieve their status in life through their own efforts and abilities, rather than it being ascribed to them at birth by their class background.

Question 5

what is the tripartite system

Answer 5

children were to be selected and allocates to one of three types of secondary school according to their aptitudes and abilities. these were identified by the 11+ exam.

Question 6

what were the three types of schools students could be allocated to (tripartite system)

Answer 6

grammer schools
secondary modern schools
technical schools

Question 7

what were grammar schools

Answer 7

grammer schools offered an academic curriculum and access to non-manual jobs and higher education. they were for pupils with academic ability who passed the 11+. these pupils were mainly middle class

Question 8

what was a secondary modern school

Answer 8

secondary modern schools offered a non-academic practical curriculum and access to manual work for pupils ho failed the 11+. these pupils were mainly working class

Question 9

what are technical schools?

Answer 9

The secondary technical would teach mechanical, scientific and engineering skills to serve industry and science

Question 10

how did the tripartite system reproduce class inequality

Answer 10

rather than promoting meritocracy, the tripartite system reproduced class inequalities by channeling the two social classes into two different types of schools that offered unequal opportunities.

Question 11

how did the tripartite system reproduced gender inequality

Answer 11

the system reproduced gender inequality by requiring girls to obtain higher marks than boys in the 11+ to obtain a grammar school place

Question 12

how did the tripartite system justify inequality

Answer 12

the tripartite system legitimized inequality through the ideology that ability is inborn. it was thus argued that ability could be measured early on in life through the 11+. however in reality children environment affects their chances of success

Question 12

how did the tripartite system justify inequality

Answer 12

the tripartite system legitimized inequality through the ideology that ability is inborn. it was thus argued that ability could be measured early on in life through the 11+. however in reality children environment affects their chances of success

Question 13

when was the comprehensive system introduced and what was its purpose

Answer 13

the comprehensive school system was introduced from 1965 onwards. its aim was to overcome the class divide of the tripartite system and make education more meritocratic.

Question 14

how did the comprehensive school system aim to over come the class divide of education

Answer 14

it planned for the 11+ to be abolished along with grammar and secondary modern, which would be replaced by comprehensive schools that all pupils within the area would attend.

Question 15

what was one downfall of the comprehensive school system

Answer 15

it was left to the local education authorities to decide whether or not they would go comprehensive and not all did so. as a result the grammar-secondary modern divide still existed in many areas

Question 16

what do functionalists argue about social integration and comprehensives and what is an argument against their pov

Answer 16

functionalists argue that comprehensives promote social integration by bringing children of different social classes together in schools.
a study by Julianne ford found that little social mixing between working class and middle class pupils, mainly because of streaming.

Question 17

what do functionalist argue about comprehensive systems and meritocracy

Answer 17

functionalists see the comprehensive system as more meritocratic because it gives pupils a longer period in which they can develop and show their abilities, unlike the tripartite system which sought to select the most able pupils at the age of eleven

Question 18

what do marxists argue about the comprehensive systems

Answer 18

Marxists argue that they are not meritocratic. rather, they reproduce class inequality from one generation to the next through the continuation of the practice of streaming and labeling. these continue to deny working class pupils equal opportunity.

Question 19

what do marxists argue about the myth of meritocracy in relation to the comprehensive systems

Answer 19

they argue that by not selecting children at eleven comprehensive systems may appear to offer equal chances to all. this myth of meritocracy legitimizes class inequality by making unequal achievement seem fair and just, because failure looks like it is the fault of the individual rather than the system.

Question 20

what is marketisation

Answer 20

marketisation refers to the process of introducing market forces of consumer choice and competition between suppliers into areas run by the state such as education.

Question 21

how has marketisation created an education market

Answer 21

marketisation has created an education market by reducing direct state control over education and increasing both competition between schools and parental choice of school

Question 22

what is the timeline for marketisation

Answer 22

marketisation has become a central theme of government educational policy since the 1988 education reform act, introduced by the conservative government (Margret thatcher.)
from 1997 the new labour governments (tony Blair and Gordon brown) followed similar policies, emphasizing standards, diversity and choice. from 2010 the conservative - liberal democrat coalition government took marketisation further, creating academies and free schools.

Question 23

which sociological view points favour marketisation and what do they argue about it

Answer 23

the neo liberals and new right favour marketisation. they argue that marketisation means that schools have to attract customers by competing with each other in the market. schools that provide customers with what they want (success in exams) will thrive, and those that dont will go out of business

Question 24

what are some of the policies used to promote marketisation

Answer 24

• publication of league tables and ofsted inspection reports that rank each school according to its exam performance
• business sponsorship of schools
• open enrollment - allows schools to recruit more pupils
• specialist schools, specialising in IT, languages etc (widens parent choice)
  formula funding where schools receive the same amount of funding for each pupil

Question 25

how does Miriam David describe marketised education, and what do supporters say about parentocracy within marketisation

Answer 25

David describes marketised education as a parentocracy (rule by parents) supporters of marketisation argue that in an education market, power shifts away from the producers (teachers and schools) to the consumers (parents). they claim this encourages diversity among schools and gives parents more choice and raises standards

Question 26

how does marketisation reproduce inequality (ball and whitty)

Answer 26

despite the claimed benefits of marketisation, critics argue that it has increased inequalities. ball and whitty note how marketisation polices such as exam league tables and the formula funding reproduce class inequalities by creating inequalities between schools.

Question 27

how does demand for schools depend on exam results

Answer 27

the policy of publishing each schools exam results in league tables ensures that schools that achieve good results are more in demand, because parents are attracted to those with good league table rankings.

Question 28

what do league tables encourage according to will Bartlett

Answer 28

according to bartlett the publication of exam results in a league table encourages cream-skimming and silt-shifting

Question 29

what is cream-skimming (bartlett)

Answer 29

cream skimming is when good schools can be more selective, choose their own customers and recriut high achieving, mainly middle class pupils. as a result these pupils gain an advantage

Question 30

what is silt-shifting (bartlett)

Answer 30

silt shifting is when good schools avoid taking less able pupils who are likely to get poor results and damage the schools league table position.

Question 31

what is the effect of league tables and cream-skimming on schools with lower rankings

Answer 31

schools with poor league tables positions cannot afford to be selective and have to take less able, mainly working-class pupils, so their results are poorer and they remain unattractive to middle class parents. the overall effect of league tables is thus to produce unequal schools that reproduce social class inequalities.

Question 32

what is the funding formula

Answer 32

schools are allocated funds by a formula based on how many pupils they attract. for each pupil that they take they get a set amount of money

Question 33

what is the difference between popular and unpopular schools in relation to formula funding

Answer 33

popular schools attract more pupils and as such get more funds. because of this they can afford better-qualified teachers and better facilities (allows them to stay high in league tables)
unpopular schools loose income and find it difficult to match the teacher skills and facilities of the more successful schools (position does not improve - attract less pupils receive less funding)

Question 34

does funding formula and league tables produce further inequality between social classes

Answer 34

yes
a study of international patterns of educational inequality by the institute of public policy research (2012) found that the competition orientated education systems such as britian’s produce more segregation between children of different social backgrounds

Question 35

how does marketisation directly benefit the middle-class

Answer 35

by increasing parental choice, marketisation also advantages middle class parents, whose economic and cultural capital puts them in a better position to choose good schools for their children.

Question 36

what does gertwitz say in her study of secondary schools

Answer 36

Gertwitz done a study of 14 London secondary schools and he found that differences in parents economic and cultural capital lead to class differences in how far they can exercise choice in secondary school

Question 37

how many types of parents did gertwitz study of secondary schools and what where they

Answer 37

gertwitz identified three types of parents in her study of secondary schools. they where
privileged skilled choosers
disconnected local choosers
semi skilled choosers

Question 38

what are privileged skilled choosers (gertwitz)

Answer 38

privileged skilled choosers were mainly proffessional middle-class parents who used their economic and cultural capital to gain educational capital for their children. they were able to take full advantage of options open to them

Question 39

how did privileged skilled choosers cultural capital benefit them (getwitz)

Answer 39

the parents knew how school admissions work, for example the importance of putting a particular school as first choice.they had time to visit schools and the skills to research the options available.

Question 40

how did privileged skilled choosers economic capital benefit them (gertwitz)

Answer 40

their economic capital meant that they could afford to move their children around the education system to get them the best deal out of it, for example by paying extra travel costs so that their children could attend better schools out of their area.

Question 41

what are disconnected local choosers according to gertwitz

Answer 41

disconnected local choosers were working class parents whose choices were restricted by a lack of economic and cultural capital.

Question 42

how did the disconnected local choosers lack of cultural capital affect their dealings with the education system (gertwitz)

Answer 42

they struggled to understand school admission procedures and were less confident in dealing with schools, less aware or choices open to them and less able to manipulate the system to their advantage. many of them placed more importance on safety and the quality of school facilities than to league tables and long term ambitions

Question 43

how did disconnected local choosers lack of economic capital affect their choices of schools (gertwitz)

Answer 43

distance and cost of travel were major restrictions on their choice of school. their funds were limited and a place at the nearest school was often their only realistic option for their children

Question 44

what are semi skilled choosers (gertwitz)

Answer 44

these parents were also mainly working class but unlike the disconnected local choosers they were ambitious for their children. however they also lacked cultural capital and found it difficult to make sense of the education market, often having to rely on other peoples opinions about schools. they were often frustrated at their inability to get their children into the schools they wanted

Question 45

what did gertwitz conclude after her study of 14 secondary schools in london

Answer 45

in theory the education market gives everyone greater choice, however, gertwitz concludes that in practice middle class parents possess cultural and economic capital and have more choice than working class parents

Question 46

what does ball argue about marketisation in relation to the myth of parentocracy

Answer 46

ball believes that marketisation gives the appearance of a parentocracy. he argues that the education system seems as if it is based on parents having free choice of school.
he argues that parentocracy is a myth. it makes it appear that all parents have the same freedom to choose which school to send their children to.

Question 47

give four policies have the new labor governments of 1997 to 2010 introduce to reduce inequality within education

Answer 47

• the aim higher program to raise the aspirations of groups who are under represented in higher education.
• education maintenance allowances - payments to students form low income backgrounds to encourage them to stay on after 16 and gain better qualifications
• introduction of the national literacy strategy, literacy and numeracy hours and reducing primary school class sizes
• city academies were created ti give a fresh start ti struggling inner-city schools with mainly working class pupils

Question 48

what does Melissa benn argue about labours policies to tackle educational inequality

Answer 48

melissa benn sees a contradiction between labours polices to tackle inequality and their commitment to marketisation. she calls this the new labour paradox.

Question 49

give two examples of the new labour paradox

Answer 49

• despite introducing EMAs to encourage students to stay in education, labour introduced tuition fees for higher education that may deter them from going to university.
• new labour governments neither abolished fee paying private schools nor removed their charitable status with is estimated to be worth over £165 mill per year.