Topic 2 : Education And Social Policy Flashcards
1944 butler act
Introduction of compulsory education up to 14
Opened up to everyone, not just people who could pay
Was part of the welfare state
Arguments for and against grammar schools
For:
Grammar schools enabled some WC families to move up the social ladder and gave them more opportunity
Against:
- those who went to SM were seen as failures - less chance of going to university. Limited in opportunity - wastage of talent and no parity of esteem
- society remained divided by class - grammar schools mostly taken up by MC as they could afford the cultural and material capital to get in. WC labelled as failures - SFP developed
Criticism of selection policies (catchment area, sibling etc)
Selection by catchment area results in selection by mortgage - house prices near best schools increase, so only wealthier parents can afford to move into the catchment areas of the best schools
Tough and Brooks - ‘covert selection’ = schools try to discourage parents from lower socioeconomic backgrounds from applying - through making school literature harder to understand, having lengthy application forms and requiring parents to buy expensive uniforms
This leads to MC parents applying for the best schools
Endogenous privatisation
Within education system:
Controlled internally
competition for students amongst schools
Exogenous privatisation
Outside the education system
School services: catering / cleaning / IT
Exam boards
Branding of schools
New right - key idea for schools and h what did it lead to
Schools should run more like businesses
Competition - schools competing with each other would drive up standards
Choice - parents had choice which means schools had to treat them like consumers
NR wanted standards to rise so children would grow to be good workers in a growing global economy
This led to the 1988 Education Reform Act
6 elements of the ERA88
NOLFIV
- National curriculum
- Oftsed
- League tables
- Formula funding
- Independence Local Management of Schools (LMS)
- Vocationalism
National curriculum
Took power away from schools and teachers as they previously had authority over what was taught
Government told state schools what should be taught
Formula funding
For each child the school receives funding - this meant schools wanted to grow (like a business would). Links to competition
LMS - local management of schools
Schools have a greater control of their budgets
This took power away from local governments
Gerwitz et al (AO3 for marketisation)
Choice in selecting a school was limited by parents’ abilities to choose. Not all parents are equal
Skilled choosers (mostly MC)
Semi skilled choosers
Disconnected choosers
Leads to a growing division of MC and WC schools
AO3 of the NR
Competition between schools benefitted the MC - lower classes and ethnic minorities end up having less choice
Vocational education was often poor
National curriculum is ethnocentric and too restrictive on teachers and schools
Cream skimming
Schools selecting students when oversubscribed - they would select the best students
This would leave lesser able and students with behavioural issues to other schools
What is marketisation
Application of market forces to the education system
Promoting more choice in type of education students receive
Promoting competition between institutions for students - raising standards
Impacts of marketisation
Increased choice of schools
More private investment in education
Increased university attendance
Improvement in GCSE and A-Level pass rate
Criticisms of marketisation
Myth of parentocracy
Only MC benefit (capital)
Covert selection
Educational triage - focus is only on borderline students and lower ability students are neglected
How does marketisation of education only benefit MC
The choice in schools is only real for those with cultural and material capital
New Labour policies for education 1997
Tony Blair
EAZs
EMA
Aim Higher
City academies
Sure start
Tougher inspecting
More funding