Theories: New Right And Eductation

Question 1

New-Liberal’s believe that:

Answer 1

The state interferes too much in people’s lives and should only play a minimal role in society.
Education is best provided by the free market
High government spending on education is seen as undesirable because of the high taxes.
Consumers such as parents and students need to be more empowered.

Question 2

What is an ‘education market’

Answer 2

Schools should compete with each like businesses because the free market competition drives up standards and drives down costs

Question 3

John Chubb and Terry Moe

Answer 3

American new right eductaionalists who believe state education in the usa has:

• unresponsive to students, parents and the economy
• low standard of education
• failed to produce workers with the sort of skills required to compete in a global economy
• resulted in high levels of unemployment

Recommend that parents should be given educational ‘vouchers’ to spend on a school of choice and schools would have to compete with one another.

Question 4

Influence of the new right:

Answer 4

• 1980’s vocational education was reformed to ensure young people were equipped with the right skills
• the 1988 education reform act introduced the concepts of marketisation and parentocracy by changing the funding formula so that popular schools obtain more funding and introducing league tables so schools compete
• the new labour government of 1997 - 2010 introduced new types of schools - academies
• the coalition government 2010-2015 continued the privatisation of British education by allowing parents to set up free schools.

Question 5

National curriculum

Answer 5

New right sociologists are keen to ensure the state continues to supervise the transmission of knowledge that helps to establish a shared cultural British identity.
This was one of the main motivations behind the introduction of the national curriculum by the 1988 ERA.

Question 6

Evaluations

Answer 6

Marxists have observed that parental choice merely reproduces class inequality because middle-class parents use their economic, cultural and social capital to ensure their children get into the best schools 
Evidence from both the uk and the USA doesn’t support the view that the privatisation and marketisation of education that drives up standards. Many academies and free schools provide poor quality of education