State Policy and Education - Need to do Flashcards
What is the 1944 Education Act?
- Introduced the Tripartite system and the 11+
- Made secondary school free and raised the leaving age to 15
What were the 3 types of schools children could go to if they pass the 11+?
HINT : TRIPARTITE SYSTEM
Grammar schools - for able kids who pass the 11+, they were taught traditional subjects ready for university
Secondary modern schools - For the 75%-80% of pupils who failed the 11+, basic education
Technical schools - provide more vocational education for pupils with love for specific subjects
What type of approach did the 11+ system take
Functionalist approach, as it was based on the idea of role allocation
What did the tripartite system aim to improve?
Improve the education of all children
What problems remained after the introduction of the tripartite system?
- 11+ did not measure your intelligence (culturally bias and suited the middle class - legitimised social class inequality)
- Few technical schools were built (schools were meant to have parity of esteem (equal value - but grammar schools were seen as the best)
- Kids who failed the 11+ were labelled failures - put them off education
- If well off middle class pupils failed their parents could afford to send them to private schools
What policy did the labour party introduce in 1965?
They made schools comprehensive (universal) to allow people to have equal opportunity
What were some positive aspects of the comprehensive system 1965?
- There was no 11+ so 80% of the population did not get labelled failures
- High-ability pupils still did well in the system - lower ability pupils do better in comprehensive than in old secondary moderns
What are criticisms of the comprehensive system?
- Most comphrensive schools still sort pupils into streams or sets depending on test scores (undermines the taking away of the 11+)
- Comprehensives in W/C areas have worse GCSE results than those in M/C areas
What was the policy that was pushed for in 1976?
The push for vocational education - PM James Callaghan made a speech saying the british education system did not teach people the skills they need for work
What are the three vocational reforms?
- Youth Training Schemes (YTS) started in 1983 - job training schemes for school leavers aged 16-17
- NVQs (1986) and GNVQs (1992) were introduced (practical qualification)
- New deal (1998) - meant people on benefits had to attend courses if they didnt accept work
What are the problems with vocational education?
- Some sociologists argue that vocational education aims to teach good work discipline not skills
- Marxists sociologists say vocational training provides cheap labour, used to lower unemployment stats
- Vocational qualifications often arent regarded as highly as acaedmic qualifications by universitys and employers
- Feminists sociologists argue vocational qualifications force girls into ‘traditional’ female jobs
What did the 1988 Education Reform Act introduce?
The conservative government introduced some major reforms in education based on New Right ideas
- Focused on widening choice within the education system
- Encouraging more competition to create a ‘market’ in schools
How did the 1988 policy improve the standards in education?
- Introduced a national curriculum
- OFSTED was set up to inspect schools
- Schools can opt out of their local education authority and become grant-maintained schools (money straight frokm government and spend it how they like)
How did the 1988 policy improve the system of choice and competition?
- Parents could choose which school to send their child to - if the school had space
- Parents could use league tables to help them choose. League tables show how many kids at each school pass their exam and how many get good grades
- Schools worked like businesses and advertised for students
How did the 1988 policy introudce more testing and more exams?
- Pupils had to sit SATs at 7,11,14 and GCSEs at 16
- Results from the tests can be used to form league tables and to monitor school standards
