New Right

New Right Background information

The New Right is a perspective in sociology linked to Functionalism and associated with the Conservative Party, especially under Thatcher, Prime Minister 1979-90. Supporters of the new right have been influential in many social policies in British society since the 1980s.

What are the three central roles of education system?

Formal Socialisation, Social selection and skills

1) Formal Socialisation

What is the meaning of Formal Socialisation?

Formal Socialisation: Refers to the way the education system is an official agent that teaches pupils norms and values of society. The New Right argues the education system is responsible for creating a shared culture in society.

i) Education Reform Act 1998 - The National Curriculum

What did the Education Reform Act 1998 introduce?

It introduced the National Curriculum, which is aimed to transmit a single shared culture.

How does the education system do this?

For example, the curriculum in history should advocate the positive role that Britain has played in shaping modern European political norms( e.g. WW2). Within Literature there should be a focus upon influential British Figures such as Shakespeare and there should be a Christian act of worship in schools each day.

What did the DFE 2014 make compulsory in all schools?

They made it compulsory for all schools to teach about British Values such as democracy, tolerance, liberty and the rule of law and this would be regulated via Ofsted.

How are British values taught in school?

Through citizenship and PSHE.

Evaluation

1) The New Right view is a contradiction. On the one hand the state should be heavily involved in the education system, influencing norms and culture through formal socialisation. Yet, the New Right also advocates minimal state involvement and heavily support decentralisation as a social policy.

2) Social Selection

What is the meaning of social selection?

Social selection: Refers to the way a person is chosen to perform a particular social role or job in society, through their performance in the education system. A person’s capability to perform a particular role is indicated through their qualifications.

What are the similarities between New Right and Functionalism?

• Both favour an education system which is ran on meritocratic principles

What is the key difference between Functionalism and New Right?

That New right don’t that the current education system is achieving these goals.

What do they think is the reason for the education system isn’t achieving these goals?

Because their failure is caused by the fact that it is run by the state.

What do New Right say about the state?

The state cannot run a good education system because there is not enough competition to power school improvement schemes, nor do the local consumers who use the school, for example, pupils, parents and employers, have any say. State education takes a one size fits all approach, disregarding local needs.

What is the New Right’s solution to these problems?

The New Right’s solution to these problems is the marketisation of education - creating an education market. They believe competition between schools and empowering consumers will bring greater diversity, choice and efficiency to schools.

i) Increased Choice - Voucher System - Chubb and Moe

Chubb and Moe’s experiment

-They support the view of New Right’s

-They examined schools in the USA

-compared the achievement of 60,000 pupils from low income families in 1,015 state and private high schools

-Their evidence shows that students from low income families’ consistently do about 5% better in private schools than in state schools

What do Chubb and Moe call an introduction for?

They call for the introduction of a market system in state schools. To do this they propose the voucher system.

Evaluation

1) Marxists Bowles and Gintis would criticise the idea of the voucher system as it would reproduce class inequalities. For example, middle class would be more likely to get accepted.

ii) Increased Competition - League Tables

When were the league tables introduced and by who?

In 1992, the Conservative government, influenced by New Right thinking, introduced league tables into the education system.

What did the league tables enable?

Schools would now compete for a position in a ranking system which parents could access to make decisions about where they would like to send their children to.

What did David call this?

A parentocracy.

What would happen to those at the top and bottom of the league table?

• Top- would be highly sought after and would be oversubscribed

• Lower- less desirable as they don’t seem to offer the same educational standards

What did the New Right say about this competition?

That it would benefit all, since no school would want to be at the bottom of the league table, all would strive for the best.

What did the Conservative Government introduce and in what year?

They introduced the Funding Formula in 1988, meaning schools finance was linked to how many students they attracted, there was now a strong incentive for all schools to perform or they risked closure.

Evaluation

1) Schools can be more concerned with their league table positions than with the students themselves. For example, a large percentage of school budgets which should be spent on students is now spent on marketing. Gewirtz also suggests that not all parents have the cultural capital to make good decisions for their children.

3) Skills

What is Vocational Education?

Mainly classroom based training, with some time spent on the job.

What is Vocational Training?

Mainly work based training, to develop specific skills.

i) Apprenticeships

What did the Labour Government introduce in 2008?

In 2008, the Labour Government introduced modern day apprenticeships..

What was founded in 2009?

In 2009, the National Apprenticeship Service was founded to coordinate apprenticeships in England. Apprenticeships aimed to train young people in specific work sectors such as: retail, tourism, funeral services.

ii) Raising the School Leaving Age

What happened in September 2013 and September 2015?

In September 2013, the education leaving age was raised to 17, and later amended in September 2015 to 18.

What do these changes allow?

Becoming an apprentice or going to college.

What does this policy do?

It not only reduces the number of NEETS(Not in education, employment or training), but means all young people are gaining appropriate skills required by the economy for longer.

What should the skills of leavers be tailored towards?

The aim has been to tailor the skills of school leavers to the needs of the economy and raise the level of expertise of the workforce.

Evaluation

1) Marxist Finn argued that the real function of the training schemes like the Youth Training Scheme(YTS) was to reduce youth unemployment and provide cheap labour for employers.