educational policy and inequality

Question 1

1944 education act

Answer 1

under conservative churchil gov
meritocracy.
introduced the tripartite system
1/3 different types of secondary school supposedly according to aptitudes and abilities.
grammar - offered academic curriculum, pupils with academic ability passed the 11+
secondary modern- non academic ‘patriarchal’ curriculum- pupils who failed the 11+

Question 2

1944 education act main aim

Answer 2

aimed to be meritocratic, those who work hard enough could go to grammar schools as they passed the 11+.

Question 3

1944 education act ao3

Answer 3

reproduced inequality.
- reproduced class inequality by channeling the two social classes into two different types of schools that offered unequal opportunities  (such as..)

• reproduced gender inequality
  by requiring girls to gain higher marks than boys in the 11+ to obtain a grammar school place.
• also legitimated the ideology=ability is inborn arguing ability can be measured from early in life through 11+

however in reality the childrens environment greatly affects their chances of success.

Question 4

1965 the comprehensive system

Answer 4

labour gov harold wilson
reduce inequality brought about by the tripartite system
the 11 + was to be abolished along with the grammars and secondary moderns, to be replaced by comprehensive schools that all pupils within the area would attend – equality.

however it was left to local authority to decide to ‘go comprehensive’ not all did so. as a result the grammar and secondary modern divide still exists.

Question 5

1965 the comprehensive system main aim

Answer 5

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

Question 6

functionalists argue about the c.s AO3

Answer 6

• PROMOTEs social integration by bringing children of different social classes together in one school.
• however fords study shows little social mixing between the classes largely bc of streaming*
• functionalists also see the cs as more meritocratic because it gives pupils a longer period in which to develop and show their abilities unlike t.s

Question 7

marxists argue about the c.s AO3

Answer 7

not meritocratic
rather they produce class inequality from one generation to the next through the contribution of the practice of streaming and labelling.

Question 8

1988 education reform act main aim

Answer 8

marketisation- to create an education market.

Question 9

1988

Answer 9

parentocracy- david describes the marketised education as a parentocracy ‘rule by parents’
power shifts away from the producers to the consumers.

claims this encourages diversity among schools and gives parents more choice and raises standards.

Question 10

1988

Answer 10

cream skimming
good schools can be ore selective, choose their own customers, recruit high achieving mainly m/c parents.

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

Question 11

gerwitz : parental choice

Answer 11

privileged skilled choosers
disconnected local choosers
semi skilled choosers

Question 12

privileged skilled choosers

Answer 12

mainly professional m/c parents who used their economic and cultural capital to gain educational capital for their children.
confident, well educated- could take advantage of the choices open to them.

possessed cultural capital - knew how admissions work e.g had time to visit and research schools.
economic capital, pay extra travel cost able to go to better schools.

Question 13

disconnected local choosers

Answer 13

these were w/c parents whose choices were restricted by their lack of economic and cultural capital.
found it difficult to understand school admissions procedures.
less confident in their dealings with schools and less aware of choices open to them.

attached importance to safety and quality of facilities rather than league tables or long term ambitions.

Question 14

semi skilled choosers

Answer 14

also mainly w/c parents but unlike dlc they were ambitious for their children.
however lacked cultural capital found it difficult to make sense of educational market often having to rely on others opinions about schools.

Question 15

new labour 1997 reducing inequality

Answer 15

policies introduced
- designating some deprived areas as education action zones and providing them with additional resources.

-increased funding for state education

Question 16

new labour paradox

Answer 16

critics such as melissa benn see a contradiction between labours policies to tackle inequality and its commitment to marketisation.
e.g despite introducing EMAs to encourage poorer students to stay in education , labour also introduced tuition fees for higher education that may deter them from going to uni.