social policy

Question 1

what is educational policies

Answer 1

Strategies and laws for education introduced by governments; instructions and recommendations to schools, local authorities and other organisations.

The aims of education policy are to:

Meet the needs of the economy - vocational education, STEM subjects, marketisation

Raise educational standards - GCSE and A Level reforms 2015, removal of coursework

Create equality of educational opportunity and meritocracy - compensatory education, selection policies versus universal/comprehensive provision

Question 2

compulsory education, liberal

Answer 2

1870/1880

Question 3

vocational education, new right/conservative

Answer 3

1980

Question 4

GIST/WIZE

Answer 4

1980s

Question 5

education reform act, marketisation, privatisation

Answer 5

1988

Question 6

sue start, faith schools, academies

Answer 6

1997

Question 7

british values, gcse, a level reform

Answer 7

2015

Question 8

lgbt+ relationship teaching in education

Answer 8

2019

Question 9

free school meals 1944

Answer 9

The 1944 Education Act also required local government to provide milk, meals and other refreshment for all school pupils. The meals had to be substantial enough to be considered the main meal of the day

Question 10

comprehensive schooling

Answer 10

n 1965 Labour instructed local government to introduce comprehensive schools whereby one school could meet the educational needs of all students in a ‘catchment area’ regardless of student needs, home backgrounds or perceived abilities.

The intention was to give working class children easier access to a better education and the chance to go onto higher education (university). Furthermore, Labour believed comprehensives would help to promote social justice and tolerance because all students would be educated under one roof, regardless of ethnicity, class or gender.

Question 11

vocational education

Answer 11

Vocational education refers to learning which relates directly to employment

This idea was first introduced within the tripartite system and technical schools. Successive recent British Governments have made attempts to promote and expand vocational education.

There has been a range of vocational qualification implemented and maintained by the New Right Conservatives, New Labour and the Coalition including:

BTEC 1984

Youth Training Scheme, National Vocational Qualifications and General National Vocational Qualifications 1980s

2011 The Wolf Report was very condemning of the existing provision of vocational education.

Modern Apprenticeships 2016

2016 – T Levels introduced

Question 12

effects of education reform act; social class and ethicity

Answer 12

Parental choice appears to benefit middle class and white parents who are able to ‘play the system’ and send their children to better schools out of their catchment area or are able to afford to move into an area with good schools - selection by mortgage. Ball (1994) refers to this process as colonisation - of the best schools by the most privileged pupils and parents (white and middle class), leaving underperforming ‘sink schools’ for the most disadvantaged pupils (black and working class)

Question 13

gerwiritz on the education reform act . social class

Answer 13

carried out research on parental choice and found that the policy WIDENED the gap between the working class and middle class in terms of achievement. She studied 14 London schools and used secondary data such as school documents. She used Bourdieu’s ideas of cultural and economic capital to argue that middle class parents use their greater capital to take greater advantage of parental choice than working class and black parents.

Gewirtz concluded that ‘education choice’ was only for some parents but not for all - the myth of parentocracy. Her research identified three types of parents:

Privileged skilled choosers – middle class, ambitious parents using all their cultural, educational, social and economic capital to access the best schools for their children.

Semi-skilled choosers – mainly working class but also ambitious parents who know which schools are ‘best’ in their local area and use whatever means they have to get their children into those schools.

Disconnected local choosers – working class parents whose choices are entirely restricted by their lack of economic, educational, social and cultural capital.

Question 14

gender and the education reform act

Answer 14

The ERA introduction of a National Curriculum meant that girls were no longer able to drop subjects such as science and maths, which led to their greater confidence in these subjects. Girls were also successful in the coursework assessment that was introduced. This, along with other changes in society led to the closing of the gender gap in educational attainment and in many cases girls’ achievements eclipsing boys in many subjects. There remains a gender gap with girls outperforming boys, although this fell slightly in 2017

Question 15

GIST and WIZE

Answer 15

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, feminist academics and teachers combined to form GIST (Girls into Science and Technology) and WISE (Women into Science and Engineering). These national initiatives were set up by the Equal Opportunities Commission and the Engineering Council to produce a more “girl friendly” science in schools. This included teaching resources, career horizons and raising awareness of the need for more female scientists

Question 16

how effective was GIST and WIZE

Answer 16

The GIST/WISE programmes (1979-1983) improved girls’ attitudes to Science and Technology and their enrolments into Science only slightly. However the policies did encourage many subsequent equal opportunities initiatives and may have contributed to the decision to have a National Curriculum (1988) to prevent girls from opting out of science

Question 17

functionalist view on education policies

Answer 17

Regard educational policies as benefiting the individual and society. They argue that policies are there to create a meritocratic education system, meaning that all pupils have an equal opportunity to succeed.

Question 18

evaluation of functionalist views on education

Answer 18

There are persistent inequalities in results between different groups, which suggests that educational policies do not result in a meritocratic education system.

Question 19

new right view on education policies

Answer 19

Reflected in many Conservative and Coalition Government policies, the New Right believe in policies which enable marketisation in education, selective schooling, increased parental choice and a focus on traditional style of learning

Question 20

evaluation of new right view on educational policies

Answer 20

Such policies are criticised for creating greater inequalities and benefiting the middle class.

Question 21

marxist view on educational policies

Answer 21

Marxists would argue that any of the mainstream political parties support capitalist economy and ideology. They would argue that the education system and the people creating educational policies are ruling class and therefore polices benefit the ruling class and maintain working class underachievement

Question 22

evaluation of marxist viee on educational policies

Answer 22

There are policies specifically targeting the poor and underachieving, such as compensatory education, which challenges Marxist ideas. Also policies do enable social mobility to occur for some

Question 23

feminist views on education policies

Answer 23

Liberal feminists argue that policy changes have resulted in the greater educational outcomes for girls at school. However Radical feminists argue that there needs to be a more substantial change to society to really eradicate patriarchy. They would point out that most policy writers in education are men, thus policies reflect patriarchal ideology

Question 24

evaluation of femenist view on education policies

Answer 24

There are still issues for girls despite equal opportunity legislation and policies. For example, although women are performing better in many areas of education, many still get paid less.

Question 25

interpretivism views on education policy

Answer 25

Interpretivists would be interested in exploring the meaning attached to particular policies for example the impact of marketisation policies and the effects these might have on processes within the school

Question 26

evaluation of interpretist views on education policies

Answer 26

This micro approach may overlook structural causes of inequalities in terms of the types of policy that are created

Question 27

postmodernist view on education policy

Answer 27

Postmodernists claim that policies reflect the greater choices and individualism in society. They also explore the ways in which learning now takes place as part of a lifelong process in a global context

Question 28

evaluation of postmodern view on education policy

Answer 28

Postmodernists do not explain the inequalities which persist as a result of educational policy neither do they offer alternative suggestions.

Question 29

ball, policies

Answer 29

The school policy of streaming and setting reinforces class differences. Higher sets contain larger numbers of middle class who are encouraged to do better while the lower sets who contain more working class pupils are ‘cooled out’ and encouraged to follow lower status pathways.

(1996) Parents are now considered to be consumers of education, with good parenting being seen as part of picking a good school. Middle class parents use their social capital to colonise the best schools

Question 30

whitty, key thinker

Answer 30

Argues that New Labour compensatory educational policies did close the gap between the middle class and the working class.

(2001) Further education is largely middle class and this can prevent some working class students doing as well as they could.

Question 31

douglas, key thinker

Answer 31

In his classic longitudinal study, Douglas was among the first sociologists to acknowledge the impact of social class on educational outcome, and most particularly, he linked high levels of parental interest to educational success. Led to compensatory education policies to off-set cultural deprivation

Question 32

gewirtz, key thinker

Answer 32

Focusses on the role of marketisation policies in reinforcing class inequalities in education. Questions concept of parental ‘choice’ – for whom?

Identifies three types of parent –

Middle class privileged skilled choosers (total choice)

Working class semi-skilled choosers (ambitious choice)

Working class disconnected local ‘choosers’ (little or no choice)

Concludes parentocracy is a myth

Question 33

gillborn and youdell, key thinker

Answer 33

School selection and marketisation policies has allowed schools to reinforce inequalities through educational triage, which means to divide secondary school pupils up into three groups:

those able to easily achieve 5 A*-C

those who might get 5A*-C with a little help

those who had little chance

They argue that the school prioritises group 2 at the expense of the other two groups