Social policy of education.

What did the industrial revolution determine?

The need for an educated workforce.

Compulsory schooling

1880- from those aged 5 to 13.

The tripartite system:

The 1944 education act brought this in. This process allocates and selects pupils into one of three different types of secondary school based on their attitude and ability.

Grammar schools:

Offered an academic curriculum and access to non-manual jobs and higher education. They were for individuals of which passed the 11+.

Secondary modern schools:

Offered a non- academic "practical" curriculum and access to manual work for the pupils of which failed the 11+.

What did the tripartite system and the 11+ determine?

The production of social class inequality by channelling both classes into two different types of school that promoted unequal opportunities. Also produced gender inequality as the 11+ required girls to achieve more marks to pass.

How did the tripartite system legitimise inequality?

Through the ideology that ability is inborn.

What did the comprehensive system aim to overcome?

The class divide of the tripartite system and make education more meritocratic. They aimed to abolish the 11+ along with grammar schools and secondary moderns, to be replaced with comprehensives.

How do functionalists view education?

they believe it has an essential function; such as social integration and meritocratic selection for future work roles

How do Marxists view education?

They believe it serves the interest of capitalism by reproducing and legitimising inequality amongst classes.

Functionalist viewpoint on comprehensive school systems.

Argue they promote social integration by bringing children of different social classes together into one school. They also believe that it is meritocratic as it gives pupils more time to develop and prove their abilities, as oppose to the tripartite system which selected pupils at the age of 11.

Ford(1969);

Found that mixing amongst classes in comprehensives was unlikely to occur largely due to streaming.

Marxist viewpoint on the comprehensive system.

Believe it is not meritocratic and instead they reproduce class inequality from one generation to the next through the continuation of streaming and labelling. These processes deny w/c equal opportunity.

Define the "myth of meritocracy"

Comprehensive schooling systems do not select children at the age of 11 and due to this, they offer an equal opportunity to all pupils. This myth justifies class inequality by making unequal achievement seem fair, like it is the fault of the individual and not the system.

Define marketisation

The process of introducing market forces and consumer choice and competition between suppliers run by the state. This has created an education market.

How has marketisation created an "education market"?

*reducing direct state control over education,

*increasing competition between schools and parental choice of school.

When did marketisation become a central theme of the government?

Has been a central theme since 1988 education reform act introduced by the conservative government of Margaret Thatcher.

How was marketisation extended by the coalition government in 2010?

Creation of free schools and academies.

Who favour the idea of marketisation?

The Neoliberals and the New Right.

Examples of policies put into place to promote marketisation:

*publication of league tables,

*open enrolment,

*specialist schools,

*formula funding,

*tuition fees

David(1993):

Describes marketised education as "parentocracy"- ruled by parents.

How is parentocracy advantageous?

In an education market, marketisation shifts power away from teachers/schools, towards parents which encourages diversity, gives parental choice, and raises standards.

Ball(1994) and Whitty(1998)

Note how marketisation policies such as exam league tables and the funding formula reproduce class inequalities by creating inequality amongst schools.

Bartlett(1993):

Believes that league tables encourage cream skimming and silt shifting.

Define cream skimming

Good schools which are higher in league tables are able to be more selective about pupils. These pupils are then put at an advantage.

Define silt shifting

Good schools are able to avoid taking less able pupils who are likely to impact the league table position of the school negatively.

The funding formula

Schools are allocated funds based on how many pupils they attract. Due to this, schools higher in league tables that are viewed as "better" receive more funding for better qualified teachers and facilities.

Study of international patterns of educational inequality by the institute for public policy research(2012):

Found that competition orientated education systems such as Britain's produce more segregation amongst children of different social class background.

Gewirtz(1995):

Carried out a study on 14 London secondary schools and found that differences between parents economic and cultural capital lead to class differences in how far they can exercise choice in secondary school. She identities 3 main types of parent.

Parent types identified by Gewirtz

Privileged skilled choosers,

Disconnected local choosers,

Semi-skilled choosers

Privileged skilled choosers:

Identified as a parent type by Gewirtz. Refers to mainly m/c professionals who used their economic and cultural capital to gain educational capital for their children.

Disconnected local choosers:

W/c parents who's choices were restricted due to their lack of economic and cultural capital.

Semi-skilled choosers:

Mainly w/c but were ambitious for their children. They however lacked cultural capital and found it difficult to make sense of the education market.

Ball

States that marketisation gives the appearance of a parentocracy. However, it is actually a "myth". It makes it appear that all parents have the same choice when in reality Gewirtz' study highlights that m/c parents have more choice due to their possession of capital, and "selection by mortgage". By disguising the reproduction of inequality, the myth makes inequality seem fair.

Policies introduced by the New labour governments to reduce inequality (due to marketisation)

*designating some deprived areas as education action zones and providing them with additional resources.

*the aim higher programme.

*Education Maintenance Allowance.

*National Literacy Strategy.

*Increased funding for state education.

Benn(2012):

Identify contradiction between Labours policies to tackle inequality and its commitment to marketisation- The "new labour paradox".

E.g. Despite introducing EMAs, they also increased tuition.

Who have the coalition government been influenced by and what did they aim to do?

*Neoliberal and new right ideas which aim to reduce the role of the state in the provision of education through marketisation and privatisation.

Who are free schools run by?

Parents, teachers, faith organisations or businesses as oppose to local authority.

Allen(2010):

States that in Sweden where 20% of schools are free schools, are only advantageous to children from highly educated families.

Fragmented centralisation: Ball(2011):

Argues that the promotion of academies and free schools has led to both increased fragmentation and centralisation of control over educational provision in England.

Fragmentation:

The idea that the comprehensive system is being replaced by a patchwork of diverse provision, much of it involving private providers, that leads to greater inequality regarding opportunities.

Centralisation of control:

The central government alone have the power to allow or require schools becoming academies or free. These schools are directly funded by the gov. Their growth has reduced the role of elected local authorities in education.

Coalition policies introduced to reduce inequality:

*free school meals for all reception-year 2 students.

*The pupil premium- money that schools receive got each pupil from a disadvantaged background.

Ofsted(2012):

Found that the pupil premium tends not to be spent on the pupils it is sent to help. 1/10 teachers said it supported pupils significantly.

The privatisation of Education:

Refers to the transfer of public assets such as schools to private companies.

The "education services industry":

Identified by Ball. Idea that in the process of privatisation, education becomes a source of profit for capitalists.

Pollack(2004):

States that the flow of personnel in regards to blurring the public and private boundary allows companies to buy insider knowledge to help win contracts, as well as side stepping local authority democracy.

The Marxist viewpoint on legitimising the turning of ed into a source of private profit.

Hall(2011): states that the coalition policies are a part of the "long march of the neoliberal revolution". Hall sees all academies as an example of handing over public services, to private capitalists. Privatisation and competition driving up standards is a myth used to legitimise the ed into private profit.

"The cola-isation of schools"

Private sector invading education indirectly, through the use of vending machines at schools to develop brand loyalty via display of logo and sponsorship.

Molnar(2005):

Schools are targeted by companies due to their nature carrying goodwill and being able to legitimise anything.

Evidence for the private sector invading schools without their benefit.

Beder(2009): UK families spent £110,000 in Tesco to gain one computer.

Neoliberal and new right approaches on education, and the solution to its problems

They believe that the states involvement leads to bureaucratic self interest and low standards. To overcome this, ed needs to be marketised as competition will make schools more responsive and raise standards.

The two types of Marketisation:

An internal market within the state education system and the privatisation of state education.

Assimilation policies:

focused on the need for pupils from minority ethnic groups to assimilate into mainstream British culture as a way of raising their achievement.

A03: the problem for first language being English ethnics: poverty or racism real cause

Multicultural education:

Aimed to promote the achievement f children from minority ethnic groups by valuing all cultures in the school curriculum, raising self esteem and achievement.

A03 of multicultural education:

critical race theorists argue it is mere tokenism. It picks out stereotypical features of minority cultures for inclusion in the curriculum, but fails to tackle institutional racism.