Educatuonal Policies Flashcards
What did the New Right think?
Some people are naturally more intelligent than others
Society is meritocratic- people should be responsible for themselves and work hard
Education prepares you for the workforce
Students are responsible for themselves
They believed in marketisation
What is parentocracy?
Where parents have control over the school so the wants and needs of the students get heard and not overpowered by politicians
What did Chub and Moore say?
The reason private schools (USA) performed better than public schools was because the schools were answerable to paying parents
The more the education system follows this model, the more successful they will be
What do social democrats believe?
Society should be based on fairness and justice
Everyone should have an equal chance to succeed
Should be a social mobility for all students in education
Rather than focussing on marketisation, school should give equal opportunities to all pupils
What did Gillborn and Youdell say?
4 dimensions of inequality in education:
Equality of access, everyone can go to school
Equality of circumstance, everyone should have the have the same starting point
Equality of participation, equal right to participate in school processes like trips etc.
Equality of outcome, equal chance to do well after school, like get a job or going to college.
What were the key aims of the Education Reform Act 1988?
Which government introduced this policy?
The key aims introduced by the New Right was:
Continued parentocracy and marketisation
Made schools more efficient
Ensured education equipped students for work
What did the Education Reform Act introduce?
National curriculum- everyone was taught the same thing
Open enrolment- parents could enrol their child at numerous schools as long as they had a ‘first choice’
National testing- SATs and GCSEs
Ofsted- inspections in schools to improve standards
League tables- allowed parents to make informed decisions on where the best schools are to send their children to
Funding formula- depending on how many pupils enrol at the school depends on the funding available to the school from the government
What did Gerwits identify?
3 types of parents
What are the 3 types of parents?
Privileged school choosers- Middle class parents who use economic and cultural capital to gain an educational capital for their children, full advantage of the schools and its their choice
Disconnected local choosers- Working class parents restricted by lack of economic and cultural capital, looked at safety and facilities rather than league tables and they had no money to travel to a school of their choice
Semi-skilled choosers- Also working class and were ambitious for their child but found it hard to understand the education market, relied on peoples opinions on schools
What did Ball say?
In general, schools with more middle class students have better results
They see middle class students as easy to teach and likely to perform well and also keep their place in the league tables
When did the Labour party come into power and until when?
1997-2010
What policies did the labour government introduce to support disadvantaged groups?
Education Action Zones- providing
additional resources for deprived areas
Aim Higher- funding to help raise aspirations of underprivileged backgrounds to attend higher education
Educational Maintenance Allowance- payments to students from low income backgrounds for attending post-16 education, could be paid up to £30 a week
National Literacy Strategy- tried to ensure 80% of students met the Literacy requirement for their age group
Sure start- free nursery education, offered parents support service in disadvantaged communities
Vocationalism- education which focuses on specific skills that relate top a trade or job
What 3 school types did the Labour government introduce to promote diversity?
Specialist schools- specialist focus on a certain subject
Beacon schools- a successful school which shares its strategies and practice to other schools
Academy schools- not run by the Local Educational Authority (EAL) which have more freedom in terms of curriculum provision
AO3 to evaluate labour policies:
What did Whitty say (2002)?
Argued Labour’s equality policies are just ‘cosmetic’ and present a positive image without actually promoting inequality
What did the Conservative coalition government to about Academies and free schools?
Gove extended the academy programme so that any school who achieve ‘outstanding’ in Ofsted could become an academy
Religious groups and parents and teachers could now set up their own schools with approval, known as free schools
This led to created opportunities for privatisation of schooling, with some academies now ran by businesses
