Topic 6 - Educational Policy And Inequality

Question 1

1944 education act ( butler act )

Answer 1

Idea of meritocracy led to tripartite system . 11+ exam to compete for places in grammar schools ( academic ) . Those who failed went to secondary modern schools . This reproduced and legitimised class inequality

Question 2

1988 education reform act

Answer 2

Margaret thatcher - introduced marketisation ( league tables , ofsted )

Question 3

Miriam David

Answer 3

Marketisation lead to parentocracy . Gave power to parents and encouraged diversity and choice

Question 4

Will Bartlett

Answer 4

League tables encourage cream skimming and silt shifting which produces inequality

Question 5

Stephen ball and Whitty

Answer 5

Marketisation reproduces inequality because middle class parents have the cultural capital to get their children into good schools. This is myth of meritocracy ( can be used as evaluation )

Question 6

Gewirtz

Answer 6

Differences in parental economic and cultural capital lead to class differences in how they exercise choice of secondary schools ( privileged skilled choosers , disconnected local choosers , semi skilled choosers

Question 7

New labour policies since 1997

Answer 7

Education action zones ( city academia with more funding ) , Ema encourage low income surfers to stay on at school , nationally literacy programmes , academies

Question 8

Coalition government policies since 2010

Answer 8

• pupil premium ; extra funding to disadvantaged students - helps to bridge the gap on inequality in schools
• Ebacc - encouraging academic subjects - published on league tables - adding to marketisation and parentocracy