Education: Marketisation Flashcards
What is Marketisation
- Marketisation is the introduction of market forces of competition and consumer choice in order to make schools operate like a business.
Formula Funding
- Schools could enrol as many students as they could legally fit, and each pupil was worth money.
- This forced schools to compete to attract as many pupils as they could, thus driving up standards.
What does Murray argue about the significance of formula funding?
- New Right thinker, Murray argues that this holds the schools accountable for their efficiency and thus, leaves them no longer reliable on the state reducing dependency culture.
What is an evaluation of Formula Funding?
- Selection by Mortgage (Leech & Campos): Once well performing schools are oversubscribed, schools can select pupils based on catchment area.
- House prices by the best schools will have risen, thus the w/c would not have been able to afford to live there so m/c pupils would be selected.
League Tables & Ofsted Ratings
- Schools are ranked, rated and judged, and compared to other schools. This provides information to parents, thus helping them with their parental choice to decide which school to send children to.
- This encourages competition and drives up standards for schools to improve.
What does Chubb and Moe argue about the effectiveness of League Tables and Ofsted Ratings?
- Chubb and Moe would argue this is effective as schools would be obligated to attract consumers.
Evaluation of League Tables
- Gewirtz: M/c are privileged skilled choosers w/ social capital.
- W/c are Disconnected local choosers.
What is the difference between Cream-Skimming and Skilt-Shifting?
When might schools silt-shift or cream-skim?
- Well performing schools schools become oversubscribed, they may attempt to select m/c pupils
- Cream-skimming – selecting higher ability students who gain the best results and cost less to teach. (Middle class students)
- Silt-shifting – offloading students which learning difficulties who are expensive and get poor results. (Working Class Students_
Why is this significant?
- Reproduces social class inequality as m/c still get into the best schools
Evaluation: Contextual Offers
- Contextual Offers, UCL offers an Access Scheme
Applying material from Item B and your knowledge, evaluate the view that marketisation policies have increased diversity and choice in the education system.
Paragraph 1: What is the Sure Start Programme?
Sure Start Programme:
- For example, the Sure Start programme was launched to support children under the age of 4 living in deprived areas. With support, they ensured that these children could do well and flourish at home.
- Therefore this shows that students can do well at school, despite suffering from material deprivation due to the help that the government provides.
Paragraph 2: What is the Educational Maintenance Allowance?
Educational Maintenance Allowance (EMAs):
- Payments to students from low-income backgrounds to encourage them to stay on after 16 to gain better qualifications, an incentive for them to study further education.
Criticism: What is the New Labour Paradox and can you give an example of a policy that encompasses this paradox?
- Critics see a contradiction between Labour’s policies to tackle inequality and its commitment to marketisation. This is called the ‘New Labour’ paradox.’
- Despite introducing EMAs to encourage working class students to stay in education, Labour also introduced tuition fees for higher education that may deter them from going university.
Paragraph 2: Formula Funding & Charles Murray
- Schools could enrol as many students as they could legally fit, and each pupil was worth money.
- This forced schools to compete to attract as many pupils as they could, thus driving up standards.
- New Right thinker, Murray, argues that this holds schools accountable for their efficiency and thus, leaves them no longer reliable on the state, reducing the dependency culture.
