Education 2

Vocabulary flashcards covering in-school processes, pupil identity formation, gender and class differences, educational policies, marketisation, selection, compensatory education, and globalisation impacts.

Feminisation of Education (Sewell, 2006)

The concept that the education system has come to favor female-associated traits such as attentiveness, discipline, and organisation, while reducing competitive exam-based assessments and lacking primary male role models, leading to male disengagement.

Laddish Subcultures

Anti-school subcultures identified by sociologists like Mac an Ghaill (1994) and Willis (1977), where working-class boys construct identities around acting tough, rejecting school authority, and devaluing academic achievement as unmasculine or uncool.

The Male Gaze (Mac an Ghaill, 1994)

An in-school process where male peers and teachers visually evaluate female students, leading girls to construct their identities around physical appearance and attractiveness rather than academic ability.

Clash of Cultural Habitus

A sociological explanation (Bourdieu, 1984; Archer et al., 2010; Reay, 1998) for how working-class students feel like 'fish out of water' in middle-class academic environments, resulting in self-exclusion from higher education.

Educational Triage (Gillborn and Youdell, 2001)

The process where marketised schools categorize pupils based on exam potential, focusing resources on borderlines while neglecting low-achieving students—often Black and working-class pupils who become labeled as 'hopeless cases'.

Education Reform Act (1988)

A major Conservative government policy that introduced marketisation mechanisms to education, including league tables, open enrolment, formula funding, OFSTED inspections, GCSEs, and the National Curriculum.

Cream-skimming and Silt-shifting (Bartlett)

Marketisation effects where high-performing schools select the highest-achieving pupils (cream-skimming) while turning away or rejecting low-performing, costly, or disadvantaged students (silt-shifting).

Parentocracy (Gewirtz et al.)

A system created by marketisation policies that nominally gives parents complete choice over schooling, though middle-class parents disproportionately benefit by using their cultural and economic capital to secure desirable school places.

Tripartite System (1944 Education Act)

A selection policy that introduced the 11+ academic entrance exam to allocate pupils into three distinct categories of secondary education: grammar schools, secondary modern schools, and technical schools.

Sure Start (1998)

A New Labour compensatory education policy that provided integrated early years childcare, healthcare, and parenting advice in disadvantaged areas to counteract early socio-economic inequality.

Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA)

A policy introduced by Labour in 1999 offering direct financial support to 16-to-19-year-old students from low-income households to encourage post-16 educational participation.

Pupil Premium (2011)

A Coalition government policy providing additional funding directly to schools based on their number of disadvantaged pupils to close socio-economic and ethnic achievement gaps.

Progress 8 (2016)

A Conservative secondary school accountability measure tracking pupil academic progress across eight core subjects from end of primary school to GCSEs, rather than evaluating raw attainment rates.

Compensatory Education Policies

Government policies designed to provide extra funding, targeted learning programs, or participation schemes to disadvantaged social groups to compensate for structural social inequalities.

GIST and WISE

Government initiatives from the 1980s ('Girls Into Science and Technology' and 'Women in Science and Engineering') created to address gender inequality by encouraging female students to enter STEM fields.

National Strategy for Boys' Achievement (2003)

A Labour government policy designed to tackle male underachievement in literacy and writing by introducing active learning strategies and positive male role models in schools.

Ethnocentric Curriculum (Coard, 1971)

A curriculum that prioritizes white British and European values, culture, and history while ignoring or devaluing non-European cultures, potentially alienating minority ethnic students.

The English Baccalaureate (EBacc)

A performance measure driven by globalisation trends that encourages secondary pupils to study a core academic suite of English, mathematics, sciences, humanities, and foreign languages.

PISA Rankings

International standardized educational performance rankings that compare student performance across nations, driving globalized UK policy reforms and curriculum standards.

Mitsos and Browne (1998) Coursework Findings

Research establishing that the introduction of coursework favored female pupils due to superior organisation and deadline discipline, while male pupils suffered from poor sustained attention.

Endogenous and Exogenous Privatisation

The dual modes of educational privatisation where state schools operate like private businesses (endogenous) and external private companies manage services, academies, and technology in state schools (exogenous).