Topic 6-Educational policy and inequality Flashcards
Educational Policy
Refers to the plans and strategies for education introduced by the government
Things to consider
-Equal opportunities
-Selection and choice
-Control of education
-Marketisation and privatisation
Educational policy in Britain before 1988
-There was no state schools
-Education was available only to minority of the population
-It was provided by churches and charities.
-The state spent no public money on education
-Industrialisation increased the need for an educated workforce and from the 19th century the state began being more involved
-State made schooling compulsory from the ages of 5 to 13 in 1880
- Type of education children received depended on their class-school did nothing to change pupils ascribed status(position u are born in)
Selection:the tripartite system
From 1944-education began to be influenced by the idea of meritocracy
-The Education Act 1944 bought in the tripartite system-tried to provide SEPERATE BUT EQUAL types of schooling targeted to particular talents of children
-Act stated everything should be equal(buildings,staff etc)
Meritocracy
That individuals should achieve their status in life through their own efforts and abilities,not ascribed at birth by class background
Grammar schools
-For pupils defined as bright and academic whose abilities that lay in reasoning and solving logical problems
-MC
-They were to study mathematics,science and other difficult subjects
Secondary modern schools
-WC
-Children seen less academic and practical
-Lower level exams
-Given basic education with little opportunities
to take external examinations
Technical schools
Existed in a few area only
-These schools emphasised vocational training
-School intended for pupils with aptitudes(ability)for technical subjects
tripartite system(A03)
However it Legitimated(justified) inequality through the ideology that ability is inborn
The comprehensive school system
-Introduced in many area from 1965 and onwards by labour govt
-Aimed to make education more meritocratic and provide educational opportunities to students of all backgrounds and abilities
-Replaced grammars and made one secondary for all
-tripartite system however still existed
Two theories for the role of comprehensiveness
-Marxists and functionalist
see the role very differently
Marxists theories for the role of comprehensiveness
-Marxist see education as serving the interests of capitalism by reproducing and legitimising inequality
-Marxist argue that comprehensive schools are not meritocratic but rather reproduce class inequality from one gen to the next by the continuation of streaming and labelling
Functionalist theories for the role of comprehensiveness
-Functionalist see it as fulfilling essential functions such as meritocratic selection for future jobs
-Functionastis see comprehensive schools as more meritocratic as it gives people longer period to develop and show their skills,unlike the tripartite system with only selected the most capable children at age 11
The myth of meritocracy
legitimates class inequality by making it seem fair and just
because failure looks like its the fault of individual rather then system
Marketisation(def)
refers to the process of introducing market forces of consumer choice and competition
Marketisation has created an education market by:
-increasing both competition between schools and parents choice of school
-reducing direct state control over education
Marketisation
From 1977 the new labour government Blair and Brown emphasised on standards,choices and diversity .
-From 2010 the coalition government(conservatory) took marketisation further-creating academies and free schools
Marketisation(2)
-neoliberal and new right favour marketisation.
-argue that it means that schools have to attract customers(parents)by competing with each other in the market.
-Schools that provide customers with what they want will thrive and those others will go out of business
Parentocracy-policies to promote marketisation(rule by the parent)
Publication of league tables and ofsted inspection reports that rank each school according to its exam performance,giving parents the information they need to choose a right school.
-Business sponsorship of schools
-Formula funding,where schools recieve the same amount of funding for each pupil
-Specialising in IT,languages etc-to widen parental choice
-Schools have to compete to attract pupils
-Allow parents to set up free schools
-Introduction of tuiton fees for higher education
-Schools can became academies
-Open enrolment,allowing successful schools to recruit more people
The reproduction of inequality(Ball and Whitty)
-marketisation increasing inequality
-Note that marketisation policies such as exam league tables and funding formula
reproduce class inequality by creating inequality between schools
League tables and cream-skimming
Publishing league tables ensures that schools that achieve good results are more in demand because parents are attracted to the better results
Parentocracy(David)
Describes marketised education as a parentocracy(rule by the parents)
-Claim that this encourages diversity among schools,gave parents more choice and raises standards
Barlett
-cream-skimming
-slit shifting
cream-skimming
good schools can be more selective,chose their own customers and recruit high acheiving,mainly MC pupils=pupils gain advantange
slit-shifting
good schools can avoid taking less able pupils who are likely to get poorer results and damage the schools league table position
Poor schools
cannot afford to be selective and have most less able WC pupils so their results are poorer and unattractive to MC parents=leaugue table produces class inequality
The funding formula(popular schools)
Schools are allocated a fund based on how many pupils they attract
=popular schools get more funds and can afford better qualified teachers and facilities.Their popularity allows them to be more selective and attract more MC applicants
The funding formula(poor schools)
lose income and find it difficult to match teacher skills and facilities of rival.Fail to attract pupils and funding is reduced
Parental choice:Gewirtz
Marketisation also advantages MC parents whose economic and cultural capital puts them in a better position to chose schools.
Gewitz study
Study of 14 London secondary schools and found that differences in economic and cultural capital lead to class differences as to how far they can pick secondary schools
Identifies 3 type parents:
-privileged-skilled choosers
-semi-skilled choosers
-disconnected-local choosers
privileged-skilled choosers
professional MC parents who used their economic and cultural capital to gain educational capital for their children.
had time to visit schools,knew how schools admissions work
can move their children around to get to the best schools
semi-skilled choosers
WC parents however they were ambitious of their children.They did lack cultural capital and failed to understand education market
disconnected-local choosers
WC parents whose choices were restricted by the lack of economic and cultural capital
-difficult to understand school admissions,less aware of choices open to them,less able to manipulate the system to their advantage,less confident dealing with schools
Myth of pantocracy
-Gewitz shows that MC are better at taking advantage of their the choices available.
Ball believes that marketasitation gives the appearance of a parentocracy
-education system seems as the parents have the choice of school however he argues that parentocracy is a myth not reality
Conservative government policies from 2010
-David Cemeron(prime minister)freeing schools from state through policies such as academies and free schools
Moved education system away from comprehensives schools run by local authorities
-influenced by NR and neoliberal ideas
New labour and inequality
policies introduces to reduce inequality:
-Aim higher performance to raise aspirations of groups who are under-representative in higher education.
-Education Zone in deprived area to provide resources
-education maintenance allowance(EMAs)-payments for students from low income families to encourage them to stay after 16 in education and get a qualification
-City academies were created to give fresh start to inner city schools with mainly WC
-National Literacy stategy-lieteracy and numeracy hours
Free schools
-although funded directly by state,free schools are set and run up by
parents,teachers,organisation etc
-supporters of free school believe that if control is taken away by the state and power given to parents they can improve educational standards
academies
from 2010-all schools in 2010 were encouraged to leave the local authority and became academies
-Academies given control over their curriculum
-funding taken from local authority government
-from 2017 over 68% of all secondary schools had converted to academy status.
Some academies are run by private educational businesses and funded directly by the state.
-coalition government reduced all inequalities by allowing schools to be academies
Free schools(Allen)
research from sweden,where 20% of schools are free schools,shows that it only benefits children from highly educated families.
-Some critics state that standards in free schools are low, and this can be evidenced by the drop in Sweden’s international education ranking since the introduction of free schools in the country
(AO3) What were free schools in the US criticsed for?
for appearing to raise standards through strict pupil selection and exclusion policies.
Fragmentation
means that the division of education is diverse and more privatised.
-increases the inequality of students from different social classes in opportunities
centralisation
is the increase in government control and power to allow or require schools to become academies or free schools
-decrease the power of the elected local authority
Policies to reduce inequality
introduced by coalition govt
The two main policies introduced to decrease inequality were:
- free school meals (FSM)
- pupil premium-money schools receive for disadvantaged pupils
austerity
is a set of political-economic policies that aim to reduce government spending
(AO3) critiques of coalition govt
Sure centres
Education maintenance allowances was abolished
Educational funding was cut due to austerity
spending was cut on educational buildings due to austerity
University fees tripled(£9000), discouraging the working class from applying
The privatisation of education
involves the transfer of public assets such as schools to private companies
What did the private companies in ESI involve
an increase in range of activities in education,building schools,providing supply teachers,work-based learning,careers advice and ofsted inspections
Ball(privatisation of education)
-many of these activities are profitable
-companies involved in such works expected to make up 10x as much profit as they do on other contracts
-however local authorities are often obliged to enter into these agreements as the only way of building new schools cause of the lack of funding by central govt
Blurring the public/private boundary(Pollack)
notes this flow of personnel allows companies to buy ‘insider knowledge’ to help with contracts, as well as side-stepping local authority democracy (reflecting the policy of marketisation, NR)
Blurring the public/private boundary
Directors of local authorities,head teachers now leave to set up work or work for private sector education businesses
What does education become as a source of for capitalists
A source of profit
State the 4 trends in privatisation
-blurring the public/ private boundary
-privatisation and the globalisation of education policy
-the cola-isation of schools
-education as a commodity
privatisation and the globalisation of education policy
- many private companies in the education services industry are foregn owned
1) Blurring the public/ private boundary
- how has the policy of academisation blurred the boundary between public/ private sector
Many academies are run and operated by private coorporations and become part of a chain. As Pollack notes, this flow of personnel allows companies
Blurring the public/ private boundary
- what policy has also blurred the public/ private boundary
Academisation
privatisation and the globalisation of education policy
- what does Ball say about where some exam papers are marked
some Pearson GCSE exam answers are now marked in Sydney and Iowa
The US educational publishing and testing giant parson
Edexcel
what do Buckingham and Scanlon say about the UK’s four leading educational software companies
are all owned by global multinational (Disney etc)
what are many contracts for educational services in the UK sold by the original company sold to
banks and investment funds or overseas companies
the cola-isation of schools
- what does Molnar say about schools
-schools are targeted by private companies because ‘schools by their very nature carry enormous goodwill and can thus confer legitimacy on anything associated with them.’
in other words schools are a kind of product endorsement
the cola-isation of schools
-how is the private sector penetrating education indirectly (brand loyalty)
for example, through vending machines on school premises and the development of brand loyalty through displays of logos and sponsorship
the cola-isation of schools
-education as a commodity
Ball-privatisation is becoming the key factor shaping educational policy
-policy increasingly becoming focused on moving educational services out of the public sector controlled by nation-state to be provided for private companies instead
-in the process of privatisation what is education being turned into a legitimate object of private profit-making, a commodity to be bought and sold in an education market
-what does privatisation mean for the role of the state=losing its role as the provider of educational services
What are the main aims to consider when asked what is the focus of education policy
-Improve equality-some policies made to try and make things equal
-Marketisation-to create competition in order to improve standards and give parents more choice
Who tends to fight for equality
Labour:
-free school meals
-pupil premium
-catch up funding=covid pay for children who missed out on education
Who tends to fight for marketisation
Conservative:
-league tables
-schools advertisement
-Academies
-Free schools=schools that work with private businesses to improve quality of schools
How did the comprehensive system continue to reproduce class inequality?
-Streaming=reproduction of class inequality
-Labelling=some schools labelled as sink schools
pros of comprehensives schools
-Catchment area =local schools accepting local children of all abilities and providing them will equal opportunities
-Cheaper to fund and run
-no entrance exam so no children labelled as failure
-one type of school for everyone
cons of comprehensives schools
-limits parental choice=each student is expected to go to the nearest school no matter the reputation
-mixed ability groups may not benefit all pupils are teachers have are torn between smartVSdumb
-no mixed social classes
-some comprehensive schools recreate old educational system as they place their pupils in streams according to their ability
Conservative Educational Policy 1979-1997
-New rights(NR) thinking influenced a number of policies being introduced by governments around the world
-1970s education was failing to produce skilled and motivated young workers= unemployment rising cause my school leavers were unemployable(NR)
-NR believed that state-run institutions were inefficient as they dont have a profit motive-introduction of market forces through competition made them more efficient
-the more schools have to compete the greater the incentive to improve
The social democratic view of education
-what should it endure
-equality of opportunity less important than just serving the needs of the industry=known as new vocationalism
Diversity and choice
-Tony Blair
rejected one-size-fits-all idea of comprehensive schools
Education Action Zone
Set up in deprived area with low levels of educational attainment
Academisation
Involves the ownership and operation of state schools being handed from local council to private organisations such as businesses,religious organisations,charities
-86% of secondary schools became academies
-Academies can decide on their own curriculmn,term dates,school hours etc
Academy chains
Multi academy trusts are chareties that have responsibility for running a number of academies
-cannot be run for financial profit
Policies on gender and ethnicity
-gender
-19th century females were largelly excluded by the higher education-in the tripartite system girls often had to achieve a higher mark than boys in order to obtain a grammar school place
-1970s policies such as GIST and WISE have been introduced to try to reduce gender differences in subject choice
what is social reproduction of inequality
the idea that inequality is continually socially reproduced because the whole education system is ruled with ideology provided by the dominant group.
How many phases have policies aimed at raising the achievements of children from ethnic minority groups gone through?
have gone through 3 phases.
- Assimilation
- Multicultural education
- Social inclusion
(AO3) What do critics of assimilation say about ethnic minority groups and english?
Critics of assimilation argue that underachieving ethnic minorities such as Black Carribeans can already speak English.
-Critics of assimilation state that the causes of ethnic minority underachievement are poverty and racism, not a lack of english language skills.
Define assimilation:
Is an educational policy that focused on the need for ethnic minority pupils to assimilate into mainstream British culture to raise achievement,especially those for whom english is not their first language
-implemented between the 60s and 70s.
Define multicultural education:
(MCE) refers to policies that aimed to promote the achievements of children from ethnic minority backgrounds through valuing all cultures in the national curriculum.
What period of time were MCE policies implemented?
MCE policies were implemented between the 80s and 90s.
-it aimed to increase the achievement of ethnic minority groups by raising their self esteem.
(AO3) What does Stone state about multicultural education and black pupils.
states that black pupils do not fail due to low self esteem, and MCE suggests this.
(AO3) What do critical race theorists state about MCE?
state that MCE is tokenism and picks out stereotypical features of minority cultures to include in the national curriculum.
-According to critical race theorists, MCE fails to tackle institutional racism.
Define institutional racism:
is the racism that is built into institutions such as schools operate.
(AO3) What do the new right criticise MCE for?
the new right criticise MCE for perpetuating cultural divisions.
-According to the new right, the education system should promote a shared national culture and identity in which minorities should be assimilated.
Define social inclusion:
refers to policies that aimed to raise ethnic minority achievement.
What period of time were social inclusion policies implemented and what it included?
were implemented in the late 90s.
-included the detailed monitoring of exam results by ethnicity.
-act included the english as an additional language programme.
What did social inclusion amend and why?
-and what did it help in
amended the Race Relations Act to place a legal duty on schools to promote racial equality.
-Social inclusion created help for voluntary saturday schools in the black community.
(AO3) What does Heidi Safia Mirza say about educational policy and its approach?
says that educational policy takes a soft approach.
-According to Heidi Safia Mirza, educational policy focuses too much on culture, behaviour and the home.
-educational policy should focus on the structural causes of inequality such as poverty and racism.
(A03) What does Gillborn state about educational policy?
he states that institutionally racist policies in relation to the ethnocentric curriculum, assessment, and streaming continue to disadvantage ethnic minorities.
Education as a commodity
-what does Hall see coalition government policies as?
-what do marxists say about the neo libs view that privatisation drives up standards?
-the long march of the neoliberal revolution
-it’s a myth used to legitimate the turning of education into a source of private profit
