social policy and education- new labour

Question 1

what were new laboours principles inspired by

Answer 1

New Labour were in power from 1997-2010, and introduced an impressive range of new education policies – some of which were inspired by New Right principles and focused on enhancing marketization: increasing competition between schools and choice for parents.
others were inspired by social democratic principles, focusing more on improving equality of educational opportunity and helping the disadvantaged.

Question 2

specialist schools

Answer 2

schools that have been encouraged to specialise in specific subjects. the aim was to increase choice, competition and raise standards. Specialist schools are allowed to select 10% of their students who show an aptitude in the schools specialist subjects

Question 3

explain how specialist schools were influenced by new right principles

Answer 3

Specialist schools demonstrate New Labour’s rejection of the Old Labour idea of of the ‘one size fits all comprehensive school’. Specialist schools provided diversity and offered more parental choice, fitting in with the New Right’s marketization agenda.

Question 4

New Labour policies inspired by the Social Democratic View of education

Answer 4

The Social Democratic view of education emphasized improving equality of opportunity and tackling social disadvantage through state education. The main policies introduced to achieve these goals included Academies, Sure Start, and Education Maintenance Allowance.