Social Groups and Educational Policy

Question 1

What polcies benefit girls’ educational opportunities?

AO1/2

Answer 1

• GIST and WISE - Boaler: these have removed barriers and made education more meritocratic for females
• Jackson: marketisation e.g. league tables - girls are more sought after by schools as they tend to perform better which would improve the school’s position on league tables
• Myhill: changing modular to linear exams gives girls an advantage as they’re more organised

Question 2

What policies benefit girls’ educational outcomes?

AO1/2

Answer 2

Equal Pay Act 1970 and the 1969 Sex Discrimination Act have increased women’s aspirations

(if necessary could analyse with there still being a gender pay gap and glass cieling)

Question 3

How can we evaluate the impact of the policies?

Answer 3

• Sharpe’s ‘Just Like a Girl’ study found that girls aspirations have changed and are no longer focused on the home but in their careers
• Rey: WC girls still have limited aspirations due to limited job opportunities

Question 4

What policies benefit boys’ educational opportunities?

AO1/2

Answer 4

• Dads and Sons: encourages boys to read - underperform most in readong/essay based subjects
• National Literacy Challenge would benefit boys most as they are the ones who underperform in this

Question 5

What policies impact boys’ educational outcomes?

AO1/2

Answer 5

Mitsos and Browne: policies surrounding deindustrialisation have resulted in a masculinity crisis as traditional masculine jobs are in decline

Question 6

Who can we evaluate the impact of these policies?

AO3

Answer 6

Ringrose: anti-feminists have created a moral panic about WC boys failing:
- people are worried that they’ll fail, become unemployed, and form a dangerous criminal underclass that threatens social stability
- this has shifted policies towards failing boys which has 2 outcomes:
1. Narrowing equal opportunities ignores greater issues like those ethnic minorities students face
2. Focusing on achievement ignores problems girl’s face e.g. stereotypes, sexual harrassment

Question 7

What were educational policies regarding ethnic minorities like in the 60s-70s?

AO1/2

Answer 7

• Focused on the need for ethnic minority pupils to assimilate into mainstream British culture to raise their achievement especially by helping EAL students
• Gave opportunities to POC a it gave a chance to learn about British education and become successful
• e.g. Diane Abbott: born in London 1953 to Jamaican parents went to Cambridge and became first black female MP in 1987

Question 8

How does Shain evaluate assimilation?

AO3

Answer 8

• History of British education has been to ‘manage diversity’
• Government expects immigrants to abandon their native language, culture, and practices in order to assimilate into a ‘superior’ British culture

Question 9

What were educational policies regarding ethnic minorities like in the 80s?

AO1/2

Answer 9

• Focused on developing strategies to assist teachers in dealing with the changing demographics of students
• Banks: Multicultural Education (MCE) aimed to raise achievements of ethnic minority pupils by valuing all cultures in the curriculum thus raising their self esteem and achievements
• e.g. assemblies and lessons on different cultures, employing more black teachers so black boys have good role models

Question 10

How can we evaluate multicultural education?

AO3

Answer 10

• Troyna: Critical Race Theory - MCE is mere tokenism and is no different from assimilation as it doesn’t directly address institutional racism. MCE picks out stereotypical parts of minority cultures to include - the 3 S’s: saris, samosas, and steeldrums
• New Right: MCE perpetuates cultural divisions - education should promote a shared national culture into which minorities assimilate

Question 11

What have educational policies regarding ethnic minorities been like since the late 90s?

AO1/2

Answer 11

Focused on social inclusion of minority students to raise their achievement:
- EAL Programmes
- 1976 Race Relations Act placed a legal duty on schools to promote racial equality
- Compensatory Education: provided additional educational provisions for the culturally deprived to help them compete on equal terms
- Aim Higher: in 2003 gov provided more resources to schools where Afro Carribean pupils were underperforming

Question 12

How can we evaluate social inclusion?

AO3

Answer 12

• Gilborn: setting and streaming continues to disadvantage ethnic minority pupils
• Mirza: sees little genuine change in policy - instead of tackling the structural causes of ethnic inequality (e.g. poverty, racism) policy takes a soft approach focusing on culture and behaviour