new right perspective on education

Question 1

neoliberalism- what are they in favour of?

Answer 1

neoliberalism(economic doctrine) in favour of private business and free market wich has influenced all governments(labour and conservatives) since 1979

Question 2

free market

Answer 2

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

Question 3

education and neoliberalism- what do they argue about education

Answer 3

argue education plays important role in building successful economy

Question 4

what do neoliberalists argue about state education

Answer 4

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

Question 5

the main difference between functionalists and new right

Answer 5

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

Question 5

one size fits all- Chubb and Moe

Answer 5

chubb and moe argue that this is because a state run education system is essentially the same for everyone

Question 6

-new right believe that individuals + communities have ?

Answer 6

a variety of different needs which a state-run education system cannot cater for

Question 7

they argue the education system is?

Answer 7

unresponsive to the needs of pupils and parents and tends to have low standards

Question 8

in contrast, private education needs to?

Answer 8

please its costumers to survive and therefore standards are high as constant pressure for them to improve further

Question 9

what do Gerwitz(1995) and Ball(1994) argue?
(evaluation)

Answer 9

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

Question 10

cultural capital

Answer 10

the knowledge, attitudes,values , languages, tastes and abilities that the middle class transmit to their children

Question 11

economic capital

Answer 11

economic resources such as cash or property

Question 12

evaluation:
critics argue that the real cause of low educational standards is not state control but?

Answer 12

social inequality and inadequate funding of state schools

Question 13

what do new right argue about parental choice?

Answer 13

support parental choice (parentocracy) + the state imposing a national curriculum on all its schools

Question 14

why is the new right being in favour of imposing a national curriculum contradicting?

Answer 14

a national curriculum means parents do not have free choice over their child education and what they study

Question 15

how would Marxists criticise new right

Answer 15

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

Question 16

what act introduced a national curriculum into UK schools?

Answer 16

The Education Reform Act of 1988
-meant all pupils in state schools taught same topics in same time
-this never applied to private schools

Question 17

globalisation

Answer 17

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

Question 18

what does globalisation involve?

Answer 18

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

Question 19

new vocationalism
- in 1976 what did the labour prime minister, James callaghan argue

Answer 19

argued that the education system was not producing pupils with the right skills that were needed for the modern economy

Question 20

comprehensivisation had tended to result in?

Answer 20

all pupils attempting academic qualifications but many jobs required practical and technical skills, rather than knowledge of shakspeare or history

Question 21

shared values
new right sociologists agree that?

Answer 21

education should impart shared values but don’t think this can be done through the state

Question 22

new right argued that in the 1960s + 70s schools came to be dominated by local education authorities that?

Answer 22

might have values that differ from the value consensus

Question 23

therefore new right belived putting parents in control to create?

Answer 23

parentocracy - then the value consenus would be set by parents, not by politicians who were often far from the mainstream

Question 24

national identity + british values

Answer 24

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’

Question 25

meritocracy - saunders (1996)

Answer 25

-saunders claims that middle class educational success is ‘deserved’ because middle class inherit a genetic predisposition to be more intelligent than their wc peers

Question 26

the education system encourages mc students to

Answer 26

develop their potential,rather than trying to include the weakest students

Question 27

meritocracy is necessary to ensure?

Answer 27

that the most talented individuals tackle most difficult jobs

Question 28

what do new right see as a solution?

Answer 28

marketisation

Question 29

they believe education should be meritocratic and to achieve that:
(competition)

Answer 29

-education needs to be more competitive, more about choice + winning and loosing and less about collaboration and fairness e.g no participation prizes

Question 30

competition within schools through

Answer 30

exams , sports, spelling contests

Question 31

competition between schools through

Answer 31

1988 education reform act
-league tables
-ofsted

Question 32

new vocationalism

Answer 32

socialising pupils with the skills and values to prosper in a market economy

Question 33

consumers having power

Answer 33

parentocracy and vouchers for private schools

Question 34

(evaluation) new right ignore what others believe to be the ‘real’ cause of low educational results such as

Answer 34

accountability of schools, but pupils in poverty

Question 35

focuses on students with higher ability. why is this problematic?

Answer 35

requires most students to fail for this to work.