new right view of education Flashcards
new right view on education
Very similar to Functionalism in that the New Right believe that some people are naturally more talented than others and that education should be run on meritocratic principles of open competition. Education should socialise pupils into shared (‘British’) values and provide a sense of national identity. The education system should be efficient and marketized (run like a private business). Unlike functionalism the New Right have a negative view of education and argue the education system is failing – both individuals and society.
marketisation
Their major policy to change education was to introduce marketisation (running a school like a business). This introduced the market forces of consumer choice (demand) and competition between schools (suppliers). The New Right argue that an ‘education market’ forces schools to respond to the needs of pupils, parents and employers. For example, competition with other schools means that teachers have to be more efficient; a schools’ survival depends on its ability to raise the achievement levels of its pupils.
new vocationalism policy 1980
curriculum to be more work-skills based e.g. work-experience, BTECs and GNVQs
education reform act policy 1988
National Curriculum
GCSEs including more coursework
National Testing (SATs)
League Tables
new Funding Formula (per student, direct from central govt.)
also included 1988 Section 28 - of Local Government Act - banning school “promotion of homosexuality” which was viewed as a “pretend family relationship” - increased moral regulation in schools
coalition government policy, introduction to free schools
A type of academy which is a new school. Many are set up and run by parents or interested individuals and organisations which do not have to follow the National Curriculum (although they have to teach their own version of English, Maths and Science). They can have unqualified teachers.
coalition government policy, expansions of academies
Any school can now covert to an academy (before it was just those in deprived areas and/or those who received a bad Ofsted rating). They now include many primary schools as well as majority of secondary schools; enables governors and Head teacher to run the school and, like Free Schools, they don’t have to follow the National Curriculum
coalition government policies, pupil premium
The schools get extra funding for each student they have that is eligible for free school meals (the school gets roughly £600 per student)
coalition government policy, major curriculum reform 2015
Gradual removal of AS Levels (they no longer count as 50% of the A Level)
reduction of re-sit opportunities and modular exams
coursework removal
coalition government policy, changes to Ofsted grading
‘Satisfactory’ no longer acceptable; all schools must be ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’; ‘In need of improvement’ and ‘inadequate’ schools receive considerable govt./Ofsted intervention
Chubb and Moe, state education hasn’t helped the poor and disadvantaged groups
State education doesn’t produce the skills needed for the economy as the schools are not up to standard. Private schools are more effective than the state schools due to the ‘paying customer’ mentality; if it’s free and bad teaching, you don’t complain, but if you pay and the teaching is bad, parents complain and standards increase. Their study shows that lower income children get better results in private schools. They conclude, therefore, that introducing market forces (privatising schools) will drive up efficiency and the quality of education.
Chubb and Moe findings.
To get their evidence, Chubb & Moe carried out a survey of parental attitudes to school (fixed questions) and comparison of the achievements of 60,000 pupils from low-income families in 1015 state and private high schools (comparative method), and case studies of ‘failing’ schools being turned around.
Their findings were that low income families do 5% better in private schools
schools should not get any government funding
each family is given a voucher to spend on buying education from a school of their choice
this would make schools respond more and better to what parents want
