social policy and education Flashcards
educational policy before 1988
industrialisation
before industrial revolution, no state schools and education only available to minority
industrialisation increased need for educated workforce so school compulsory for 5-13 year olds in 1880
What education were m/c and w/c given?
m/c - academic
w/c - basic numeracy and literacy skills needed for factory work
When was the Tripartite system
1944 (education act)
1944 education act - meritocracy
individuals showed achieve status through efforts and abilities rather than ascribed status
How and what 3 schools were children allocated to?
took an 11+ test
grammar school - passed exams, non manual, mainly m/c, high education
secondary modern school - failed exams, practical jobs, mainly w/c, low education
technical school - only existed in few areas, very few built, mechanics/engineering etc
What did separating people to different schools do?
reproduce class inequality
reproduced gender inequality as girls needed to get higher marks in the exams to go to grammar schools
legitimised inequality through ideology that ability is inborn and can be measured through 11+ exam
When was the comprehensive system?
1965
What did the comprehensive system aim to do?
overcome class divide by abolishing 11+ exam along with grammar schools replaced with comprehensive schools that all pupils in one area would attend
aimed to make education system more meritocratic
What was the problem with going comprehensive?
it was up to local authorities whether schools went comprehensive so not all did
Functionalist view on comprehensive schools
positive
promote social integration between classes
Who found little integration?
What was this due to?
Ford
due to streaming
Marxist view on comprehensive schools
reproduce class inequality through streaming and labelling
myth of meritocracy and legitimises class inequality
How were people selected in school?
selection by ability- now forbidden other than in grammar schools
selection by aptitude - potential in certain subjects (specialist schools can take up to 10% of pupils based on aptitude)
selection by faith - select proportion based on religion/ religion of parents
AO3 - issues with selection of schools
late developers not able to move schools
social cohesion and integration
labelling and self fulfilling prophecy
gains provided for some students cancelled out by number of disadvantaged students in secondary modern schools
Who identified covert selctions?
Tough and Brooks
What is covert selection?
cherry pick high achievers
discourage poor parents by giving impression school is better fitted for m/c
When was the conservative government - the new vocationalism?
1979 - 1997
What did the conservative government aim to do?
deal with youth unemployment as gov. felt education wasn’t adequate enough to prepare for work
What did the conservatives introduce?
apprenticeships and training schemes focusing on students gaining NVQs
Which theorists favour new vocationalism?
functionalists and new right
AO3 - problems with new vocationalism
cheap labour for employers
reduce politically embarrassing unemployment stats
lower ability students encouraged to do vocational education and w/c and ethnic minorities over represented
stereotypical gender patterns
AO3 - Cohen
argued vocational education aimed to instill good attitudes and work discipline meaning they will accept low paid and low skilled jobs
Who introduced 1988 education reform act?
conservatives
What became a central theme of social policy since education reform act?
marketisation- introduce market force and competition e.g in education
Who followed similar policies?
1997 labour government
coalition government 2010 by pushing academies and introducing free school meals
How has marketisation created an education market?
reduce state control over education
increase competition in school
increase parental choice
aim to raise standards
Why do neo-liberal and new right favour marketisation?
schools have to attract customers with what they want (exam success) and those that don’t will ‘go out of business’
Who came up with ‘parentocracy’?
David
How did policies promote marketisation?
publish league tables
business sponsorship
open enrolment
funding formula
uni tuition fees
free schools
specialist schools
national curriculum
target setting
AO3 - reproduction of inequality
despite claimed benefits of marketisation critics argue it increased inequality
Who believes publishing league tables leads to cream skimming and silt shifting?
Bartlett
What is cream skimming?
‘good schools’ have more selection and choose high achieving, mainly m/c
What is silt shifting?
‘good schools’ can avoid taking less able pupils who are likely to get low results
What is funding formula?
schools allocated funds based on how many pupils/how popular the school is
popular schools get more funds so have more selection over pupils - more funds=more attraction
unpopular schools loose income so can’t match teachers skills or facilities than better schools
causes ‘bad schools’ to get even less funding and worse results
What does Gewirtz say about parental choice and inequalities?
differences in parent’s economic and cultural capital leads to how far they have a choice in secondary schools - found 3 types of parents when choosing
What were the 3 types of parents found when choosing secondary schools by Gewirtz?
privileged skilled choosers - m/c, cultural and economic capital, professional
disconnected local choosers - w/c, restricted by their lack of capital, less confident with admission policies, less aware of choices etc
semi skilled choosers - mainly w/c, determined for their children but lacked capital and relied on others opinions
AO3 - Ball - legitimatising inequality and myth of meritocracy
marketisation gives appearance of parentocracy giving them the choice but it is a myth
AO3 - what do Leech and Campos show?
m/c parents can afford to move into the catchment area of better schools
When was New Labour government?
1997 - 2010
What did new labour gov. do to reduce inequalities from marketisation policies?
aim higher programme
increase funds for state education
sure start centres
city academies introduced
introduced national literacy strategy
education maintenance allowances
designate deprived areas as education action zones
Who did they pay the most attention to?
groups in society who were seen as disadvantaged e.g w/c, ethnic minorities
AO3 - who was a critic of new labour?
Benn
Why was Benn a critic of new labour?
saw contradiction between labours policies to reduce inequality and its commitment to marketisation
e.g despite introducing policies encouraging w/c to get further education, they introduced tuition fees at uni
What was it called when there was a contradiction e.g encourage w/c to do higher education but introduced tuition fees?
new labour paradox
When was coalition gov. (con and lib dem)
2010-2015
What change did the coalition government. introduce
national curriculum (made more demanding)
changes to GCSEs and A levels - no longer coursework or modular exams
Who were con lib dem influenced by?
Why?
neoliberal and new right ideas
reduce role of state in education and move away from schools run by local authority
done through marketisation and privatisation
coalition gov - academies
encouraged to do what?
what happened to curriculum?
from 2010, schools encouraged to leave local authority and become academies
funding taken from local authority given to central gov.
academies got control of own curriculum
statistic of how many secondary schools converted to academies
by 2012 over half had converted
coalition gov. - free schools
run by who?
seen to do what?
run by parents, teachers, faith organisations or businesses rather than local authorities
seen to raise standards by giving parents power and meeting local demand
What did Allen find in his study?
found research from Sweden
20% of schools in Sweden are free
found they only benefit children from highly educated families
What did DoE find about free schools?
free schools take fewer disadvantaged pupils than nearby schools
AO3 - What did Ball argue about fragmented centralisation?
promoting academies and free schools has led to
fragmentation of education system
centralisation of control
What is fragmentation of education system?
system replaced by patchwork of diverse provision, much involving private providers that leads to greater inequality in opportunities
What is centralisation of control?
central gov. alone has power to allow or require schools to become academies or allow free schools to be set up
schools funded by central gov. and reduce role of elected local authorities in education
What did coalition gov. introduce to reduce inequality?
free school meals
pupil premium - money school receives for disadvantaged pupils (encouraged better schools to recruit lower achieving pupils)
What did Ofsted find about pupil premium?
in many cases pupil premium was not spent on those it was supposed to help
What did coalition gov. do further (austerity policy)
cut spending in many areas of education
close sure start centre
abolish EMA
increase tuition fees to £9000 a year
When was conservative gov.
2015+
What policies did conservative gov. introduce?
increase no. grammar schools
GCSE grading system changed to 1-9
introduce T level and phase out BTEC
content of GCSE and A level more demanding
etc
What is privatisation of education?
involves transfer of public assets such as schools to private companies
trend in the UK and globally
Who were academies and free schools encouraged to work with?
Why?
sponsors and employers
sponsors (employers/businesses) would have a say in how the school was run and the curriculum offered
reflects element of privatisation in education
Who talks about endogenous and exogenous privatisation?
Ball and Youdell
What is endogenous privatisation?
privatisation in education system
possible due to schools managing themselves
What practices might endogenous privatisation adopt?
efficiency and profit- sponsored activity from local businesses
performance targets- teachers paid kore based on performance
marketing- Gewirtz argues schools spend more time on marketing than students
What is exogenous privatisation?
privatisation from the outside
parts of education system outsourced to external providers and companies
Examples of great market for outside providers to profit from education system
global, private exam boards
classroom tools e.g google classroom
academies and academy trusts (these run a number of schools and include private donors and investors)
What does Ball call a source of capitalist profit as a result of privatisation education?
education services industry
What are private companies in the ESI invloved in increasing a range of activities?
building schools, providing supply teachers, work based learning, careers advice, Ofsted inspections etc
What do large scale school building projects often involve?
public private partnerships
What does Ball argue about companies that build schools given contracts for repayment with schools paying ongoing costs?
companies involved can expect to make 10x as much profit as they do on other contracts
Blurring the public/private boundary
Many senior officials involved in education now leave to set up or work for private sector education businesses.
These companies bid for contracts to provide services for schools.
What does Pollack say about blurring the public/private boundary?
claims companies buy insider knowledge to help win contracts and side step local authority democracy
