Educational Policy And Inequality

Question 1

Tripartite system

Answer 1

1944 Education Act: means that children were selected and allocated to 1 of 3 different types of secondary school, according to their ability.
- Used 11+ exams to assess this
-Grammar School : offered an academic curriculum and access to non-,manual jobs and higher education. Mainly dominated by the m/c.
-Secondary-modern schools: offered non-academic, ‘practical curriculum’, access to manual work. Mainly dominated by the w/c.
-Technical.

Question 2

Strength of tripartite system

Answer 2

-Gave children from a deprived background the opportunity to a first
class education

 Gave the opportunity of education for all up to 15 years of age

 To reduce inequalities arising from those attending paying schools

 Equality of opportunity due to all pupils sitting the 11+ exam.

Question 3

Weakness of tripartite system

Answer 3

DOES NOT promote meritocracy, it led to further social inequalities as it splits both classes into different schools.

 The mainly working class pupils in secondary moderns were labelled as failures and so lacked the motivation to succeed

-Grammar schools specialised in academic subjects leading to university and well paid jobs. Those attending Secondary modern were seen as failures and often not allowed to take exams

Question 4

Comprehensive system

Answer 4

Aimed to overcome class divide of tripartite system and promote meritocracy. It was introduced as it was felt that educating all children under one
roof regardless of class, gender, ethnicity or ability would be a fairer system.

11+ was abolished along with the two types of schools and replaced by comprehensive schools where all pupils in the area could attend.

Question 5

Strength of comprehensive system (3points)

Answer 5

1. Equality for all under one roof
2. Broad Curriculum provided
3. More opportunity for every child to take exams

Question 6

Weaknesses of comprehensive system (3points)

Answer 6

1. It was left to local educational authorities to decide whether to ‘go comprehensive’ and not all did so the divide between grammar and secondary modern schools exist.
2. Most classes were organised by ability, e.g. streaming. The higher streams were often dominated by the middle classes due to their social class and achievement.
3. Comprehensives did not live up to their ideal as admissions were based on geographical catchment areas, often inhabited by one type of class which meant that social mixing was unlikely.

Question 7

Marketisation - 1988 Education Reform Act

Answer 7

consumer choice and competition has created an ‘educational market’ which has reduced state control over schools and has increased parental choice and competition between schools.

Question 8

Parentocracy

Answer 8

Parents are in charge of the education system as they are given the right to choose which school they send their children to, rather than being limited to the local school in their catchment area. League tables rank schools based on exam performance which givers parents the information they need.

Question 9

Myth of parentocracy - Campos et al

Answer 9

Not all parents, it’s only M/c parents that can take advantage of their choices available. As they can afford to move into catchment areas of more desirable schools.

Question 10

Formula funding

Answer 10

schools receive same amount of funding for each pupil.

Question 11

Cream-skimming - league tables

Answer 11

Picking out the best of the best to be in your school, usually M/c pupils.

Question 12

Silt-shifting

Answer 12

Best schools can avoid taking less able students who get poor grades, which can damage their league table position.

Question 13

Strengths of 1988 Education Reform Act (3points)

Answer 13

1. League Tables show that standards since 1988 have improved
2. Made education more responsive to the needs of parents
3. It has ensured greater efficiency - competition has forced schools to make better use of their
   resources.

Question 14

Weaknesses of 1988 Education Reform Act (3points)

Answer 14

1. Focussing on exam results and league table position causes stress….Concern has been expressed over the harmful effects of over-testing on pupils, especially younger pupils.
2. The Middle classes had more effective choice because of their greater cultural and social capital (skilled choosers + disconnected choosers).
3. Polarisation of schools occurred – the best schools get better and the worst get worse. Due to cream-skimming, the best schools become oversubscribed. This means that these schools can ‘cream skim’ the best pupils

Question 15

Gerwitz - parental choice skilled choosers

Answer 15

Skilled choosers : professional M/c privileged parents. They take full advantage of their choices due to their cultural capital. They know how admissions systems worked eg. the importance of your first option. They have the skills to research the best options available to provide the best opportunities for their child.

Question 16

Gerwitz - parental choice disconnected choosers

Answer 16

Disconnected choosers: W/c parents whose choices are limited due to a lack of economic and cultural capital. They were less aware of options available, less able to manipulate system to their own advantage and distance and costs played an important influence on their decisions of schools.

Question 17

What are the 4 main conservative policies from 2010?

Answer 17

Reflected neo-liberal thinking about reducing the role of the state, and therefore moving away from the comprehensive system.
1. academies
2. free schools
3. privatisation of education
4. policies on gender and ethnicity

Question 18

Academies

Answer 18

Funding was given to academies by the central government and they had control over the curriculum.
2017- 68% of secondary schools converted to academy status
- some run by private businesses and funded by the state.
Originally, academies were targeted at disadvantaged people and areas but now any school can become an academy which removes the focus on reducing inequality.

Question 19

Free schools

Answer 19

Run by parents, teachers, faith organisations or businesses.

Claim that they improve educational standards by giving control to parents rather than the state as it gives parents and teachers the opportunity to create a new school if they are unhappy with the state schools in local areas.

Allen - 20% of free schools only benefit children from highly educated families.

England- evidence shows free schools take fewer disadvantage people.

Question 20

The privatisation of Education

Answer 20

Ball - education has become a source of profit - ‘education service industry’
Education has become a business and is a growing commodity being bought and sold in the market.
Includes:
- making schools compete for pupils
- giving parents choice so they become consumers (open enrolment)
- linking school funding to success rates (formula funding)
- introducing performance related pay for teachers
- allowing successful schools to take over and manage failing schools

Question 21

Policies on gender and ethnicity

Answer 21

Gender: in the past, females were excluded from higher education. The tripartite system has meant that girls gain a higher mark than boys in 11+ exam policies such as GIST has aimed to reduce gender differences in subject choices.

Ethnicity:
1st phase - Assimilation - tried to absorb British culture in order to raise achievement.
2nd phase - multicultural education- aimed to promote achievements of all EM by valuing all cultures in school curriculum - which raises self-esteem and achievements.
HOWEVER, Stone argues that black people don’t fail due to low self-esteem but other factors, suggesting the MCE is misguided.
3rd phase: social inclusion - policies aim to raise achievement. Eg. detailed monitoring of exam results by ethnicity, amending the Race Relations Act to promote racial equality.
Gillborn - argues that the ethnocentric curriculum and streaming continues to disadvantage EM pupils.