Educational Policy and Inequality Flashcards
When was education first made compulsory and free in the UK?
1870
What did industrialisation increase the need of in 1870?
An educated workforce
What was one factor for education coming compulsory and free in the UK in 1870? (not industrialisation)
Competition with USA and Germany
What was made compulsory until the age of 10 in 1880?
School attendance
What did the state become responsible for in 1918?
Secondary education
What was the school leaving age raised to in 1918?
12-14
When was the Butler Education Act introduced?
1944
What was the key factor of the Butler Education Act?
The tripartite system
When would primary education end as of 1944?
At age 11
What age was secondary school made compulsory until in 1944?
15
What was secondary school determined by in 1944?
The 11+ exam
What three schools made up the tripartite system?
Grammar schools
Technical schools
Secondary-modern schools
How were there inequalities within the tripartite system? (5)
Very few female grammar schools
Area you lived in could determine school
M/C children would have cultural capital
Test at age 11 doesn’t accommodate late developers
Legitimised inequality
How did the tripartite system legitimise inequality?
By making ideology that ability is innate
What system was introduced in 1965?
Comprehensive system
What was the aim of comprehensive schools?
To reach all students under one roof regardless of social class, gender, ethnicity and abilityn
What did the comprehensive system aim to overcome?
The class divide of the tripartite system and to make the education system more meritocratic
What was abolished in 1965?
The 11+, grammar schools and secondary modern schools
Benefits of comprehensive schools
Lots of good facilities
Many subjects
Specialist teachers
Mixed ability teaching encourages less able
Disadvantages of comprehensive schools
Lots of schools were too big which made students feel dehumanised
Progressive teaching
Mixed ability teaching making more able students less challenged
What policy was introduced in 1988 by Margaret Thatcher?
Marketisation
Marketisation
The process of introducing market forces of consumer choice and competition between suppliers into areas run by the state, such as education
What did the ‘education market’ increase and reduce?
Increased competition and parental choice
Reduced direct state control of education
What has become a central theme of government education policy since the 1988 Education Reform Act?
Marketisation
Why do neoliberal and new right thinkers favour marketisation?
Because they argue that it means that schools have to attract customers (parents) not competitions with each other which means they will made drastic improvements to ‘not go out of business’
Examples of policies which promote marketisation in education
Target setting
National testing (GCSEs and SATs)
League tables
Ofsted inspections
Formula funding
School diversity
Parental choice
Business sponsorship
Introduction of tuition fees for higher education
What are parents now encouraged to see themselves as according to Ball et al?
Consumers of education
What does parental choice follow a pattern related to?
Social class differences
What groups are more likely to make choices based on schools’ performance according to Tough and Brooks?
M/C families with high incomes
Why have M/C parents been able to make the most of parental choice?
They shop around
Compare school on league tables
Know more about how to read Ofsted reports
Afford more easily to move (be in catchment area)
Afford higher transport costsn
Why do schools remain socially selective?
Because they are supported by advantages M/C parents
What results in teacher trying to ensure their school’s survival within the marketplace?
The competitive climate and importance of school league tables
Who do teachers devote more time to due to marketisation?
Pupils who have a chance of achieving high grades (more likely coming from m/c homes)
What do schools choose in order to appear better in league tables due to marketisation?
Easier exam boards
How has the national curriculum been criticised?
It has been criticised for not giving teachers enough opportunity to respond to the needs of their pupils as they are told what to teach and when to teach it
How has testing been criticised?
It has been criticised for putting too much pressure on young children
Years of the New Labour Government
1997-2010
Who was in change of the labour government when they came into power on 1997?
Tony Blair and Gordon Brown
What policy did the new labour government maintain?
Marketisation
How did the new labour government try to reduce educational inequality?
They ‘pumped’ more money into mainly deprived inner-city areas where pupils were underachieving
What is the best faze of government to use to illustrate social policies aimed at reducing educational inequality in an exam?
The new labour government
New labour government educational policy of excellence in cities
Policy that would provide extra resources for education in disadvantaged inner-city areas to improved results of disadvantaged people
Sure start educational policy of new labour government
Policy that would provide extra help for pre-school children in deprived areas
Education Maintenance Allowances (EMA) - New Labour Government
Provided payments of up to £30 per week to children from lesson affluent homes
Expansion of higher education educational policy of new labour government
Policy that would rapidly increase number of places in higher education
What continued to be used by the new labour government to drive up standards of schools?
League tables
What did the new deal for young people provide unemployed young people with? (New labour government)
Education, training, voluntary work and subsidised jobs
Limit of people in a class in 1997
No more than 30 pupils in a class
What was dropped from most A-levels in 2008?
Coursework
