new right perspective on education Flashcards
neoliberalism- what are they in favour of?
neoliberalism(economic doctrine) in favour of private business and free market wich has influenced all governments(labour and conservatives) since 1979
free market
refers to sysetm in which people free to buy and sell -firms compete to attract customers so quality continually improves
they want:
-low government intervention
-low taxation
-the privatisation of state-run businesses
education and neoliberalism- what do they argue about education
argue education plays important role in building successful economy
what do neoliberalists argue about state education
argue state education is inefficient and drains a country’s resources
-high gov spending on education requires high taxes which they do not like
-these taxes ultimately come from company profits and high taxation therefore makes companies less competetive
the main difference between functionalists and new right
whilst functionalists believe the education system is effective and performs key functions , new right do not believe it is currently able to perform these roles = this is because it is run by the state
one size fits all- Chubb and Moe
chubb and moe argue that this is because a state run education system is essentially the same for everyone
-new right believe that individuals + communities have ?
a variety of different needs which a state-run education system cannot cater for
they argue the education system is?
unresponsive to the needs of pupils and parents and tends to have low standards
in contrast, private education needs to?
please its costumers to survive and therefore standards are high as constant pressure for them to improve further
what do Gerwitz(1995) and Ball(1994) argue?
(evaluation)
argue that competition between schools benefits the middle class who can use their cultural and economic. capital to gain access to more desirable schools
-belive marketisation only benefits mc
cultural capital
the knowledge, attitudes,values , languages, tastes and abilities that the middle class transmit to their children
economic capital
economic resources such as cash or property
evaluation:
critics argue that the real cause of low educational standards is not state control but?
social inequality and inadequate funding of state schools
what do new right argue about parental choice?
support parental choice (parentocracy) + the state imposing a national curriculum on all its schools
why is the new right being in favour of imposing a national curriculum contradicting?
a national curriculum means parents do not have free choice over their child education and what they study
how would Marxists criticise new right
marxists argue that education does not impose a shared national culture as the new right claims, but imposes the culture of a dominant class and devalues the culture of the working class and ethnic minorities
-if working class + ethnic minorities feel devalued by education, their response could be underperformance= join anti-school subculture
what act introduced a national curriculum into UK schools?
The Education Reform Act of 1988
-meant all pupils in state schools taught same topics in same time
-this never applied to private schools
globalisation
they argue rising standards are essential due to globalisation
- if countries are going to compete in an increasingly global economy, workers lacking high level of skills will lose their jobs to more skilled workers in other countries
what does globalisation involve?
all parts of the world becoming increasingly interconnected =resulting in British private schools + universities competing with countries around the world to attract pupils or students
e.g unis have different campuses abroad e.g brunel in duabi
new vocationalism
- in 1976 what did the labour prime minister, James callaghan argue
argued that the education system was not producing pupils with the right skills that were needed for the modern economy
comprehensivisation had tended to result in?
all pupils attempting academic qualifications but many jobs required practical and technical skills, rather than knowledge of shakspeare or history
shared values
new right sociologists agree that?
education should impart shared values but don’t think this can be done through the state
new right argued that in the 1960s + 70s schools came to be dominated by local education authorities that?
might have values that differ from the value consensus
therefore new right belived putting parents in control to create?
parentocracy - then the value consenus would be set by parents, not by politicians who were often far from the mainstream
national identity + british values
the new right also belive that our schools should promote ‘britishness’ + teach about positive elements of British history
-therefore, should also oppose multiculturalism within education,as it fails to promote ‘our single set of share values and culture’
meritocracy - saunders (1996)
-saunders claims that middle class educational success is ‘deserved’ because middle class inherit a genetic predisposition to be more intelligent than their wc peers
the education system encourages mc students to
develop their potential,rather than trying to include the weakest students
meritocracy is necessary to ensure?
that the most talented individuals tackle most difficult jobs
what do new right see as a solution?
marketisation
they believe education should be meritocratic and to achieve that:
(competition)
-education needs to be more competitive, more about choice + winning and loosing and less about collaboration and fairness e.g no participation prizes
competition within schools through
exams , sports, spelling contests
competition between schools through
1988 education reform act
-league tables
-ofsted
new vocationalism
socialising pupils with the skills and values to prosper in a market economy
consumers having power
parentocracy and vouchers for private schools
(evaluation) new right ignore what others believe to be the ‘real’ cause of low educational results such as
accountability of schools, but pupils in poverty
focuses on students with higher ability. why is this problematic?
requires most students to fail for this to work.
