New right/Neoliberal approach

Question 1

Neoliberal and the new right is a…

Answer 1

conservative and free market approach
-they belive the state cannot meet individual needs therefore people are best left to meet their own needs through the free market

Question 2

Similarities and differences between functionalists and the NR

Answer 2

1. they belive some are more naturally talented than others
2. they agree that meritocracy to serve the economy by preparing students for work
3. they believe education should socialise pupils into shared values such as competition and instil a sense of national identity
   however, they do not belive that the current education system provides all these goals as it is run by the state who typically have a ‘one size fits all’ approach imposing uniformity and disregarding local needs in which pupils, parents and employers have no say

Question 3

neoliberals/new right’s view on education

Answer 3

-the value of education lies in how it competes in the global market place
-thus to achieve well, schools should run more like a business
-parents and pupils are to be seen as a customers- using competition between school to drive up standards

Question 4

NR/NEO-L: marketisation

Answer 4

-they want to create an education market
-they believe that through competitions and laws of supply and demand, this will empower consumers (parents and pupils)- bringing greater diversity, choice and efficiency to schools, which increases ability to meet everyones needs

Question 5

Chubb and Moe (1990): the voucher system

Answer 5

1. this would put education in the hands of the customers
2. proposed schools dont get automatic funding from the state regardless of how well they perform
3. families will be given vouchers to spend on buying education from a school of their choice
4. schools are forced to become more supportive of families wishes (because vouchers are the main source of the schools income)
5. schools compete for business—-> improving product for customers

Question 6

NEO-L/NR: 2 roles of the state

Answer 6

even though the NR movement believe in the education market, they still believe that the state plays a big role:
1. it imposes a framework on schools within which they have to compete (league tables)
2. the state also ensures that schools transmit a shared culture, as it imposes a national curriculum and socialises us to a single national heritage (though this contradicts the NR support for parental choice)

Question 7

AO3 of Neoliberalism andthe new right

Answer 7

1. Gerwitz and Ball both argue that competition between schools only benefits the middle class who can use their power to gain access to more desirable schools
2. critics argue that it is not the states fault for the failure of the education system but the scoial inequality due to the lack of funding for state schools
3. contradiction within the new right argument:
   -they want national curriculum
   -but they also want parents to have all the choice
4. marxists argue that education only imposes the ideology of a small minority (the buorgeouisie) and devalues the culture of the working class and other minority ethnic groups (proletariat)