education- how has the uk education system changed

what vocational courses have been introduced in education?

• Curriculum 2000

• work experience

• apprenticeships

• t-levels

curriculum 2000

• labour

• social democrats

Introduced A levels in vocational subject e.g. A level health and Social Care. also, ability to combine vocational subjects with A levels

positives:

• prepares students for world of work- more vocational skills

• raise profiles of qualifications

• mix of vocational and a level

negatives

• seen as less compared to full A levels

• buswell: girls pushed into vocational courses- 5c’s

work experience

• labour- 2004

• social democrats

compulsory 2-week work experience for yr 10

• independence and responsibility

• gain connections

negatives

• time consuming

• expensive

• missing content of school

• Some may slack off- wolf report

  • scrapped by coalition government, but now being brought back

apprenticeship

• coalition gov

having a job and training at same time

positives:

• improved opportunities

negatives:

• funding- not all companies able to get it

• quater of people who participated older- doesn’t help younger people

• cheap labour

t levels

• conservatives- 2020

• new rights

2-year course, equivalent to 3 A-levels, provides students with skills demanded by industry

positives:

• first set of students taking T-levels received 92% pass rate

negative:

• lack of teacher training

• not relevant for many subjects

• expensive- resources

• uni’s don’t know much about it

  • being replaced with v-levels

relationship between school and work: functionalists

• Durkheim: skills provision- e.g. computer skills

• Parsons: meritocracy- install good work effort

• Davis and Moore: role allocation- e.g. grade boundaries

• Parsons: focal socialising agency-n+v, school= bridge

relationship between school and work: marxists

• bowles and gintis: correspondence theory

• cohen: vocational courses exploitive

• bowles and gintis: myth of meritocracy

• althusser: ideological state apparatus- capitalsit ideologies- teaches capitalism is good

relationship between school and work: new right

• t-levels

• apprenticeships: increase work based training

• vocationalism: skilled workforce to improve economy

• chubb and moe: competion

Increasing choice and diversity

Competition: between schools

Choice: ability to choose which school to attend- parents and students

Diversity- type of school

Open enrolment

Choice, Competition and diversity

• gives parents right to choose what school child attends- outside local area

  • Formula funding

• Positives

  • Raises standards- competion- Chubb and moe

  • David: parentocracy

  • Ability to control child’s schooling-83% o families get 1st choice

• Negatives:

  • Bush: myth that catachment areas don’t exists anymore

  • Leech and campos: schools pick kids from same area

  • Bartlett: cream skim

  • Gertitz: skilled choosers- m/c parents

  • Practicality for travel to good schools

Marketisation of education

Competition and choice

• running school like business- ads- Ostend reports- banners, open days, social media

• Positives:

  • Creates competition between schools:Chubb and moe

• Negative:

  • Gertwitz: schools too focused on marketing- budget used more on ads etc.

  • Governments should give more funding to cover costs

  • Hargreaves: Kentucky fried schooling

League tables

Competition and choice

• secondary schools required to publish GCSE results- ranking schools

• Positives:

  • Chubb and moe

  • Raises standards of schools- raises parentocracy

• Negatives:

  • Garner: schools focus too much on gaining grades for league tables

  • Ball: only benefits m/c- parentocracy= myth

  • Labour: based on value added- target grades, progress

    • Pressure on students and teachers to reach targets

Academies

Gov: labour

Positives:

• helped failing inner city schools

• More funding- teacher resources etc.

• Personalised curriculum

• Pay for good headteachers- superheads

Negatives:

• Francis: GCSE results for disadvantaged pupils varied depending on academy

• Schools that converted were already good schools

• Run by people from business background

Specialist schools

Gov: labour

Positives:

• Jesson: specialist schools outperformed non specialist schools in GCSE results

Negatives:

• high performing schools were originally selected to become specialist- so natural they would outperform

• Easier for schools in m/c areas to gain sponsorships due to parent support/ fundraising

Free schools

Gov: coalition

Positives:

• failing schools improved

• Funding

• Run by parents- know students

• Personalised curriculum

Negatives:

• Allen: only benefits highly educated families

• Ball: reinforces inequalities

National curriculum

Gov: conservatives

Standardised curriculum all government funded schools had to follow

Positives:

• new right: creates competition between schools to get best grades

  • Knowledge of culture

  • Same level of knowledge when going to workplace

• Feminism: compulsory STEM subjects- more opportunities for girls in more jobs

Negatives:

• liberals: should personalised- illicit: deschooling, Dewey: experiences not facts,

  • Takes away freedom of choice

  • Coard: ethnocentric

  • Androcentric- male centered

  • Private/ academies don’t need to follow this- more adventurous

Ofsted

Gov: conservatives- 1993

Inspections of schools around every 4 years- report and grading given to schools

Positives:

• improves teacher performance, behaviour, resources, safety and health, engagement, student progress etc.

• New right: targets help you improve- improves standard of education

  • Monitors if teachers are teaching

  • Helps create choice- parentocracy

Negatives:

• Under significant criticism for doing unnecessary pressure on teachers and students

• Check only a few days- not reflective of overall schools performance

Raising university fees

Gov: coalition- 2012

Raised uni fees from 3000 to 9000

Positives:

• more resources

• Extra facilities

• Attract teachers- pay more

• Improves accommodation

Negatives:

• criticism for increasing when promised not to

• Uni applications fallen by 10% - depth aversion- callender