Educational Policy and Inequality - Marketisation Essay Plan

Question 1

Possible exam question

Answer 1

Examine the view that the 1988 Education Reform Act did not increase equality in education

Question 2

Themes of the question

Answer 2

Marketisation increasing inequality
Education Reform Act increasing equality

Question 3

How can parentocracy be seen as a way in which marketisation doesn’t increase inequality?

Answer 3

It was introduced to give all customers (parents and children) a choice of schools

Question 4

What does Ball et al describe parentocracy as?

Answer 4

A myth

Question 5

Who developed the idea of parentocracy? What does it mean?

Answer 5

Brown. A word meaning parental power

Question 6

What are parents encouraged to see themselves as under marketisation according to Ball?

Answer 6

As consumers of education

Question 7

Who are more likely to make choices about what schools their kids go to based on the schools’ performance according to Tough and Brooks?

Answer 7

Better educated M/C parenrs

Question 8

What are m/c parents more likely to do which means that marketisation increases inequality?

Answer 8

Shop around
Compare schools on League Tables
Afford to move house
Afford daily transport costs (if children go to far away school)

Question 9

Does ‘the myth of parentocracy’ agree or disagree with the statement of marketisation increasing inequality?

Answer 9

Agrees

Question 10

How does the growing range of different types of state-funded schools not increase inequality?

Answer 10

It gives parents more choice and theoretically it gives the same options of what school to go to to everyone. As they are state-funded, they appeal to every social class

Question 11

What categories are children split into according to the education triage?

Answer 11

Safe cases
Hopeless cases
Borderline cases

Question 12

How is the educational triage a way of explaining that marketisation increases inequality?

Answer 12

Teachers devote more time to pupils who have better chance of achieving high grades - these are normally m/c pupils

Question 13

Who claims that children who have better chances of achieving good grades are mostly m/c?

Answer 13

The House of Commons Committee of MPs

Question 14

How is open enrolment an argument for marketisation policies NOT increasing inequality?

Answer 14

Open enrolment means that schools have to accept students if they have places available

Question 15

Pupil premium

Answer 15

Extra money allocated per head for pupils eligible for free school meals from poorer homes

Question 16

How can formula funding and the pupil premium be seen as ways in which marketisation didn’t increase inequality?

Answer 16

Because they aimed to encourage the best schools to attract poorer pupils and to provide extra money to help improve education of the most disadvantaged

Question 17

Why did schools have difficulties in improvement under marketisation?

Answer 17

Because they could never get better as they let in the same student-type each year

Question 18

How does a difficulty to improve negatively effect the w/c?

Answer 18

Because the schools that let them in are never improving

Question 19

Problems with the National Curriculum and testing

Answer 19

The National Curriculum dictated what teachers have to teach and when they have to teach. This was because they were demanded to carry out tests and examinations at certain times so they couldn’t spend long periods of time explaining individual topics

Question 20

How did the National Curriculum and testing negatively effect the w/c?

Answer 20

Because m/c parents are more likely to revise with their children and spend more time preparing them for tests

Question 21

Who introduced the Education Reform Act of 1988?

Answer 21

The Conservative governments of Margret Thatcher

Question 22

Why did Margret Thatcher introduce the Education Reform Act in 1988?

Answer 22

Because she saw education as failing to produce a sufficiently skilled workforce

Question 23

Marketisation

Answer 23

The process of introducing market forces of consumer choice and competition between suppliers into areas run by the state (e.g. education)

Question 24

What was reduced under the ‘education market’?

Answer 24

Direct state control over education

Question 25

What was increased under the ‘education market’? (Two things)

Answer 25

Competition between schools
Parental choice

Question 26

Which two groups favour marketisation?

Answer 26

Neoliberals
New Right

Question 27

Why do neoliberals and the New Right favour marketisation?

Answer 27

Because they argue it means that schools have to attract customers by competing, which ultimately improves standards

Question 28

What was the education system before the Education Reform Act criticised for not doing? (Three things)

Answer 28

Not reaching high standards
Not giving parents any choices
Not preparing students for the workforce

Question 29

Key points to disagree with statement that marketisation increases inequality

Answer 29

Marketisation introduced to give all customers a choice
Growing range of different state-funded schools
Open enrolment
Formula funding and the pupil premium

Question 30

Key points to agree with statement that marketisation increases inequality

Answer 30

The myth of parentocracy
Educational triage
Difficulties in improvement
Problems with the National Curriculum and testing

Question 31

Why will some m/c parents be unwilling to tell researchers how they ‘play the system’?

Answer 31

As some ways of playing the system verge on illegality (E.g. giving false address) parents are unlikely to trust the researcher enough to tell them the truth

Question 32

Why is there no point for a researcher investigating how m/c parents ‘play the system’ to ask the m/c pupils?

Answer 32

Because they may not know if their parents failed or succeeded in getting them a place in a particular school

Question 33

What ways of m/c parents ‘playing the system’ will researchers not be able to investigate?

Answer 33

The ways that are hidden from public view (E.g. having friends in teaching professions who can give advice about admissions)

Question 34

Why do schools make it difficult for researchers to investigate how m/c parents ‘play the system’?

Answer 34

Because they want to appear as having a fair admission policy which lets every type of person in. Results in them being unwilling to face contradicting research

Question 35

Who identified 3 types of parents based on their ability to choose schools? What are the three types?

Answer 35

Gewirtz et al:
- skilled choosers
- semi-skilled choosers
- disconnected choosers

Question 36

Skilled choosers (Gewirtz)

Answer 36

M/C
Want their kids to go to best schools
High cultural, material and social capital
Likely to know people inside the education system and use this to their advantage

Question 37

Semi-skilled choosers (Gewirtz)

Answer 37

Less m/c than skilled choosers
Want children to go to best schools
Less cultural, material and social capital than skilled choosers so children don’t go to best schools
Less likely to be able to move house into other catchment area

Question 38

Disconnected choosers (Gewirtz)

Answer 38

See all schools as the same
W/C
Prioritise their children’s happiness by sending them to local school that their friends all go to
Children less likely to go to the best schools

Question 39

Postmodernists on marketisation increasing diversity and choice

Answer 39

In 2024, parents have a choice of their preferred school and there is an increased range of schools
More diversity of subjects as most secondary schools are academies so can choose not to follow the National Curriculum
HOWEVER, majority of academies do choose to follow the National Curriculum so this may be exaggerated

Question 40

Who found that m/c parents had more effective choice of schools because of their higher levels of cultural, material and social capital?

Answer 40

Gewirtz, Bowe and Ball (Gewirtz et al)