New Right: Theories of Education

What is the New Right?

a conservative political view that incorporates neoliberal economic ideas

What ideas is neoliberalism based on?

• the state must not dictate to individuals how to dispose of their own property

• the state should not try to regulate a free-market economy

• governments should encourage competition

• governments should privatise state-run businesses

• governments should deregulate markets

Which sociologists are New Right?

Chubb & Moe

What three key ideas does the New Right share with Functionalism?

• some people are naturally more able/talented/intelligent than others

• the education system should be a meritocracy

• education should socialise pupils into shared norms and values to instil a sense of national identity

What is the difference between the New Right and Functionalist perspectives?

the New Right do not believe that state comprehensive education is successful

What are Chubb & Moe's three reasons for arguing that state-run education in the United States has failed?

• not created equal opportunity and has failed the needs of disadvantaged groups

• failed to produce pupils with the skills needed by the economy

• private schools deliver higher quality education because they are answerable to paying computers (parents)

In the New Right view, what are the two important roles for the state that remain?

• imposing marketisation on schools, a framework within which they have to compete

• ensuring that schools transmit a shared culture to guarantee that pupils are socialised into a single cultural heritage

marketisation

introducing the market forces of choice and competition