policies Flashcards
1944 Education Act
-introduction of the tripartite system: grammar schools, secondary modern and technical schools
-‘parity of esteem’
-wanted to make secondary education free for all
-aimed to make schools more meritocratic
1960s Circular 10/65
-Labour government’s comprehensive reorganisation
-removal of tripartite system if local authority wanted to do so
-introduction of selection by location / ‘catchment area’
-aimed to remove social class inequalities
1988 Education Reform Act
-introduction of:
-the National Curriculum
-league tables
-SATS for testing
-Ofsted
to encourage marketisation
-parentocracy
1984
GIST and WISE to increase number of girls studying male dominated subjects
1980
multicultural education policies introduced to promote the achievement of pupils from minority backgrounds by valuing all cultures in the school curriculum
1960s assimilation policies
introduced to support children who did not have English as their first language
1997 - National Literacy Strategy
National Literacy Strategy introduced to help improve the reading of all students but boys in particular
1999 - Education Maintenance Allowance
for 16-19 yr olds in education receive funding to stay in education post 16
for those from low income families with the aim to overcome material deprivation
2011
Education Maintenance Allowance cut and changed to bursaries and Pupil premium/ free school meals introduced
2010 - Academies Act
-successful schools invited to become academies
-free schools opening from 2011
-encouragement of marketisation
Bartlett
cream-skimming and silt-shifting
Ford
criticism of comprehensive schooling
little social mixing was found between w/c and m/c, largely because of streaming
David
supports marketisation as as a result of parentocracy, diversity of school and quality of school
Rebecca Allen
criticises free schools
only benefit children from highly-educated families
in Sweden only 20% of schools are free schools and m/c have a better opportunity to get into these schools
-they’re socially divisive and they have lowered standards- have caused sweden’s education rank to fall
Gewirtz
criticises marketisation
-Parental choice: privileged skilled choosers, disconnected- local choosers, semi-skilled choosers
-m/c parents best able to take advantage of opportunities
Benn
criticises marketisation
contradiction in the government’s policies- some reduced inequality (EMA) while others increased inequality (introduction of tuition fees)
Ball
criticises new labour policies
these policies resulted in ‘fragmented centralisation’ as the provision is diverse and unequal (fragmentation) and controlled by central government rather than by local authority
Heidi Safia Mirza
criticism on policies in ethnicity
sees little genuine change in policy
argues that instead of tackling the structural causes of ethnic inequality like poverty and racism, educational policy still takes a ‘soft’ approach that focuses on culture, behaviour and the home
Maureen Stone
criticism of multicultural education
black people do not fail for lack of self esteem so MCE is misguided
Ringrose
‘the moral panic’
reflects a fear that underachieving w/c boys will grow up to become a dangerous unemployable underclass that threaten social stability-> a major shift in policies
BUT THESE POLICIES
ignore problem of w/c and EM pupils and ignores problems faced by girls in schools e.g sexual harassment, stereotypes
Gillborn
CRITICISM OF POLICIES ABOUT ETHNICITY
institutionally racist policies in relation to the ethnocentric curriculum, assessment and streaming continue to disadvantage minority ethnic group pupils
McVeigh
similarities in girls’ and boys achievement are far greater esp when compared to class/ethnic differences in achievement
Molnar- (cola-isation)
THE COLA-ISATION OF SCHOOLS
-private sector penetrating education indirectly e.g. through vending machines on school premises and the development of brand loyalty through displays of logos and sponsorships
-He says schools are targeted by private companies because schools by their nature carry enormous goodwill so can confer legitimacy on anything associated with them
Beder- (cola-isation)
criticism of cola-isation
UK families spent £110,000 in Tesco supermarkets in return for a single computer for schools
Name some New Labour policies
-EMA
-Education Action Zones
-National Literacy Strategy
Name some Coalition government policies from 2010 (right-wing policies)
-reduce role of the state in running schools
-more diversity and choice between schools (including academies and free schools)
-more competition between schools through marketisation
-a move towards privatisation in education
-cut public spending to cut the deficit (spend less money on education to help the country recover from debt)
Name the 2 types of privatisation
endogenous and exogenous
Exogenous privatisation (Ball and Youdell)
(from the outside)
Public-private partnerships (PPPs)- private sector companies provide capital to design, build, finance, and operate educational services
-Often used because local authorities do not receive enough funding from central government for these things
-academies- run and managed by businesses to secure funding
Endogenous privatisation- (Ball and Youdell)
(from the inside)
some marketisation policies, such as…
-Making schools, compete for pupils like businesses, compete for consumers
-Giving parents choice as consumers
-Linking school funding to success rates (formula funding)
-Introducing performance related pay for teachers
-Allowing successful schools to take over and manage failing schools
How to Labour’s original city academies differ to the Coalition government’s academies?
Labours academies were designed to target disadvantaged areas only in order to improve equality between the social classes, but the coalition government allowed any score to become an Academy removing the focus on equality
What are social inclusion policies?
-detailed monitoring of exam results by ethnicity
-amending the Race Relations Act to place a legal duty on schools to promote racial equality
-help for voluntary ‘Saturday schools’ in the black community
-English as an Additional Language programmes
What is privatisation?
The transfer of public assets (government owned) such as schools to private companies
-In recent years, there has been a trend towards privatisation from the conservative government
-Marxist should argue that education has become a source of profit for capitalists
-Ball calls this the ‘education services industry’ or ESI
e.g. private companies now help to build schools, provide supply teachers, contribute to work- based learning, offer careers advice and offer ofsted-style inspection services.
-gives more control to schools/companies and less control from local state authorities
-New right sociologists would support this as it enables marketisation and higher efficiency away from LSAs
arguments for privatisation
-New Right argument: state-run education is inefficient as states involvement leads to low standards and less initiative from schools
-Introduction of marketisation within education has driven up standards
-private companies keep costs of education down and will run some aspects of the education system more effectively than local authorities
arguments against privatisation
-Marxists: marketisation increases inequality, because it gives students from poor backgrounds, less opportunity to attend the best schools; exogenous privatisation just provides more capital for the bourgeoisie, which in turn gives some more power
-Concerns that if private companies have an increasing role in an education, then it might change the knowledge that is taught e.g. More emphasis on maths/technology because it’s more profitable
