Policies Flashcards
EDUCATION IN BRITAIN BEFORE THE 1970s - The 1944 EducationAct
The 1944 Education Act established 3 types of secondary school, known A THE TRIPARTITE SYSTEM
CHILDREN ALLOCATED IQ TEST (11+) - CHILD HAD “FIXED” ABILITY DETERMINED BY INHERITANCE
EDUCATION IN BRITAIN BEFORE THE 1970S - grammar
The “top” 15-20% of children were sent to grammar schools and they mostly produced members of the upper/middle class
EDUCATION IN BRITAIN BEFORE THE 1970S - technical
Few were established and generally prepared children to be lower middle/skilled manual working class
EDUCATION IN BRITAIN BEFORE THE 1970S - secondary modern
Most children were sent to this type of school and they tended to be prepared to be the workimg class
Why did the 60s tripartite system go under attack?
- 11+ seen as unreliable and unfairly advantaged from working class homes
- self esteem of children DAMAGED if they were sent to second rate = less life choices
- talent,ability and potential of many children in secondary modern WASTED
In 1968
Tripartite system and 11+ abolished in most of the country
By the 1970s most children attended:
Comprehensive schools
THEORETICAL VIEWS ON COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS -
functionalists
Comprehensives promote social segregation, social solidarity and meritocracy by bringing students from very difficult backgrounds and abilities together
THEORETICAL VIEWS ON COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS - Marxists
Equality of opportunity and meritocracy are ideological myths. Streaming mainly benefits students from middle- class background. Working-class students are more likely to be found in bottom sets or streams and to leave school with fewer qualifications
THEORETICAL VIEWS ON COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS - new rights
Inner-city comprehensives suffer more truancy, indiscipline and poorer standards of teaching
THEORETICAL VIEWS ON COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS - liberal femenists
Comprehensives have worked hard to reduce gender stereotyping. Consequently, girls today are achieving better exam results than boys
THEORETICAL VIEWS ON COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS - radical feminists
Comprehensives are patriarchal institutions. They reproduce patriarchal power in the economy by funnelling girls into stereotypical subject choices. This results in low-status and low-paid careers
Catchment areas
Urban areas are rarely socially mixed because people tend to live alongside others from similar social backgrounds.
E.G INNER-CITY AREAS CONTAIN A DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBER OF POOR PEOPLE, WHILE THE SUBURBS CONTAIN A DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBER OF MIDDLE-CLASS PEOPLE
CATCHMENT AREASn - Consequences of a deprived inner-city catchment
May include a predominantly working-class intake from poorer families who may not be able to educationally support their children compared with middle-class parents. AS A RESULT, SCHOOLS MAY BECOME ‘FAILING’ AND MAY THEN STRUGGLE TO ATTRACT TEACHING STAFF
Selection by mortgage
A good school can considerably raise house prices in catchment areas, causing working-class parents to be priced out of the housing market
SELECTION BY MORTGAGE - Gerwitz (1995)
Argues that MC parents may use ECONOMIC, SCOIAL and CULTURAL CAPITAL to get their children into top-performing comprehensives. Achievement levels and success rates in these schools are therefore likely to be high.
Evaluation of comprehensive schools POSITIVE
- WC students have the opportunity to peruse the same qualifications as MC students
- More WC students now enter higher education
- greater range of courses nd qualifications
Evaluation of comprehensive schools NEGATIVE
- Some local authorities continue with grammar schools
- comprehensive schools in suburban areas do better (class inequality)
- Hargreaves and ball argue comprehensives undermine streaming and setting. Social class rather than ability.
equality of opportunity
the idea that people ought to be able to compete on equal terms, or on a “level playing field,” for advantaged offices and positions.
meritocratic
award success based on personal input
compensatory education
aims to tackle cultural deprivation by providing extra funds and resources to poorer students.
educational priority areas (EPAs)
these were set up in 1967 in deprived parts of London, Birmingham,Liverpool and West Yorkshire to provide schools with extra money and resources to raise poor children’s achievement and encourage parental involvement in education.
why were EPAs eventually abandoned
Bernstein observed “schools cannot compensate for society”
Why the tripartite system failed
- few technical schools were built
- MC students dominated grammar schools because they were more likely to pass 11+
- 11+ IQ test was not culture-fair
- mainly benefitted students with access to economic and cultural capital
- secondary modern schools were seen as inferior to grammar school education.
The Butler Education Act (1944)
introduced free secondary education for all (up to age 15 years) resulting in the tripartite system of secondary schools and the introduction of an IQ test and 11+
What is marketisation?
Marketisation is used to refer to a trend in education policy from the 1980s where schools were encouraged to compete against each other and act more like private businesses rather than institutions under the control of local government.
What is privatisation?
Privatisation is a process where institutions or other bodies are transferred from being owned by the state (or government) to being owned by private companies.
Examples of privatisation in the education system
Academies and Free Schools which are run and owned by private companies or corporations that have significant control over them,
