new right and education

Question 1

the new right

Answer 1

• Political perspective that incorporates neoliberal economic ideas
• The state can’t meet every individual’s needs
• People are best left to meet their own needs through free market based on competition, supply and demand

Question 2

similarities between new right and functionalism (education)

Answer 2

• Both believe that some people are naturally more talented than others
• Both believe that education should socialise pupils into shared values, such as competition, and instill a sense of national identity

Question 3

differences between new right and functionalism (education)

Answer 3

• New Right have a similar perspective on education to functionalists. However, they tend to think that contemporary state education fails to perform the role it should perform because of centralised state control and policies that seek to standardise and improve equality

Question 4

Chubb and Moe

Answer 4

• State-run education in the US has failed because it hasn’t created an equal opportunity, not efficient, and private schools deliver higher quality education as they’re answerable to their customers
• They compared the achievement of 60,000 pupils from low-income families across 1,015 states and private schools
• Carried out parent surveys
• Analysed case studies
• Found that low-income pupils consistently achieve 5% better in private than state schools
• Chub or Moe urge to introduce a market system

Question 5

two roles of the state

Answer 5

• State imposes a framework on schools that they have to complete. eg: league tables mean that parents can make an informed choice about their child’s education
• State ensures schools transmit shared cultural norms and values by imposing a single National Curriculum

Question 6

evaluation of new right

Answer 6

Strengths:

• Support from functionalists
• Both believe in the transmission of positive norms/values and meritocracy

Limitations:

• Contradiction between new rights support for parental choice on one hand and the state imposing national curriculum on the other
• Argued that the real cause of low educational standards isn’t state control but social inequality and inadequate funding