Educational Policy

Educational policy meaning

Refers to the plans and strategies for education introduced by government

AO2: Acts of Parliament, 2010 Academies Act (made it possible for all state schools to become academies)

Educational policies are a response to:

• Equal opportunities

• Selection and choice

• Control of education

• Marketisation and privatisation

Forster Education Act 1870:

• Due to industrialisation, there was a need for educated workforce

• Provided by churches and charities for the poor

• No state school, education available only to a minority of the population (mainly MC)

Before 1833:

• State spent no public money on education, it was provided by fee paying schools for the wealthy and churches or charities for the poor

1880:

• Schooling made compulsory for ages 5-13 due to industrialisation, as the UK now required an educated workforce

The type of education they received was based on their background:

• MC were given curriculum to prepare them for careers in the professions or office work

• WC were given schooling to equip them with basic numeracy and literacy skills needed for routine factory work → curriculum had reading, writing, religion and arithmetic

Butler Education Act 1944:

• Influence of meritocracy on policy introduced by Labour

• Tripartite system

• Grammar schools: 20%. Offered an academic curriculum, those who passed their 11+, mainly MC.

• Secondary modern schools: 75%. Offered a non academic curriculum and access to manual work for pupils who failed 11+, mainly WC, seen as inferior & teachers had low expectations

• Technical schools: 5%. For those who aren’t academically able but practically able

How did the tripartite system reinforce inequality (class and gender)?

The tripartite system reinforced class inequality as it channelled pupils from different social classes into different schools. Unequal opportunities were justified as education was based on ‘meritocracy’.

Girls had to score higher than boys on their 11+ to secure a spot at a grammar school

Strengths and Weaknesses of the Butler Act 1944

Strengths:

• Upward social mobility for the WC who did pass the 11+, different classes joining

Negatives:

• Modern school labelled as failures, 11+ was in elaborated code WC didn’t do well, females had to get higher marks

Comprehensive Act 1965

• Aimed to make education more meritocratic

• The 11+ was abolished and comprehensive schools were introduced to replace grammar schools schools and modern schools, yet some still went

• It was up to local councils to choose secondary modern and grammar schools so divides still existed

Strengths of comprehensive school system

• Better at equal opportunity as children of different backgrounds attend same school so potential for social mobility

• Provides a wide range of exam options such as GCSE as well as b-tech & vocational

• Pupils self esteem not damaged by stigma

• Larger schools so more facilities

• High ability students do well as in comprehensive as in grammar

Weaknesses of comprehensive school system

• Independent sector and grammar schools still exist which makes comprehensive like secondary modern

• Catchment areas are biased

• Allocated students into sets with middle class ending up at the top; streaming

• Limited parental choice

• Legitimated social inequality by creating myth of meritocracy

What did Ford argue?

The comprehensive system failed to reduce inequality as there was still little social integration present between different social classes due to streaming in comprehensive schools

What is marketisation?

Refers to the process of introducing the market, making schools more business like by:
AO2: Reducing direct state control over education and increasing competition between schools and parental choice

What was introduced in 1988?

Education Reform Act 1988, introduced by Margaret Thatcher

• Publication of league tables and ofsted inspection reports that rank each school

• Business sponsorship of schools

• Formula funding where schools receive the same amount of funding for each pupil

• Tuition fees for higher education

• Allowing parents and others to set up free schools

Free schools are funded by parents, local communities, trusts they also have more freedom → they’re brand new schools that are set up

Strengths and weaknesses of 1988 Education Reform Act:

Strengths:

• Improved school grades in 1994 2.8 got A*, in 1997 it was 3.6

Weaknesses:

• Still gender/class disparity, low ability discouraged from taking exams, money spent on marketing not education, few places in popular schools not on education

What theories favour marketisation?

New Right & Neoliberals as marketisation means schools have to attract customers by competing with each other in the market.

Schools will provide customers with what they want will thrive and those that don’t will “go out of business”

2010 Coalition government:

• Created academies and free schools

• Academies not controlled by local authority, run by sponsors

• Academies had more freedom they could choose: own curriculum, term dates, control over finance

David described…

'Parentocracy’ - rule by parents

AO2: League tables, Ofsted reports, business sponsorship of schools, open enrolment (before the LAE would say that you cannot accept certain amount of people → can disregard that now), create specialist schools, formula funding

What do Ball and Whitty note?

Marketisation policies such as exam league tables and the funding formula reproduce class inequalities by creating inequalities between schools

What are league tables?

The policy of publishing each schools exam results ensures schools achieve good results to attract more parents to those with good league table rankings

What does Barlett note league tables encourage?

Because parents are attracted to schools with good league rankings that it encourages schools to engage in two types of behaviour

Cream skimming and Silt shifting

What is cream skimming and silt shifting?

Cream skimming is where good schools can be more selective and recruit mainly middle class high achieving pupils

Silt shifting is where good schools can avoid taking less able pupils who are likely to get poor results and damage the schools league table position

What is the funding formula?

Schools are allocated funds by a formula based on how many pupils they attract.

AO2:

• Popular schools get more funds and can recruit better teachers and build better facilities.

• Their popularity allows them to be more selective attracting more able and ambitious middle class applicants.

• Unpopular schools lose income lose best teachers facilities fall into disrepair and fail to attract pupils so funding is further reduced.

What did the Institute for Public Policy Research find?

Competition oriented education systems like Britains produces more segregation between children of different social backgrounds

What did Gerwitz study?

14 schools show the differences in parents economic and cultural capital leads to class differences in how far they can exercise choice of secondary schools.

She found 3 different types of parents.

What were the 3 main types of parents and explain them.

Privileged skilled choosers:

• Mainly MC who used their economic and cultural capital to gain educational capital for their children, they knew how school system works, so they knew which schools are good and bad

Disconnected local choosers:

• WC whose choices were restricted by their lack of economic and cultural capital, found it difficult to understand school admissions procedures → less confident in knowing which school is good or bad & less able to manipulate the system due to lack of money

Semi-skilled choosers:

• Mainly WC, ambitious for their children, however due to lack of money, they found it difficult on school choices and often frustrated that they were not able to get their child into the school they wanted to

Ball argues the myt…

‘Myth of parentocracy’ ; makes it seem that all parents have the same freedom to choose which school to send their children into, but in reality only MC parents were able to take advantage of the choices available

New Labour government 1997-2010 introduced:

• Designated some deprived areas as education action zones and providing them with additional resources 

• Aim higher programme to raise the aspirations of groups who are underrepresented in higher education

• City academies created to give a fresh starts

• Increasing funding for state education → Tony Blair ‘Education, Education, Education’

• Educational Maintenance Allowance → gave 6th form students £10-30 per week to come into school 

• Reduction of class sizes 

• Specialist schools (e.g sports/maths etc..) → increased parents choice A03: these schools didn’t specialise in one areas actually

• City academies → helped improve standards in deprived WC areas → had BAME communities  A03: improved grades but some can exclude difficult pupils 

• Sure Start centres → offered childcare/ parenting coaching → in 2010 they were 3600 centres A03: had impact on SATS scores but MC mothers misused this

Benn criticises…

Criticises the New Labour government policies:

• Sees a contradiction between Labour’s policies to tackle inequality and its commitment to marketisation

• EMA meant to help, but then created uni tuition fees

• New Labour failed to remove fee paying private schools (as they would get into better schools)

What did David Cameron state?

Educational policy was to “encourage excellence competition and innovation” by freeing schools from the “dead hand of the state”