Sociology Educational Policy - Marketisation

Question 1

What is marketisation?

Answer 1

The introduction of market forces and competition into a system. In the education system, government control is reduced, and schools become more like private businesses subject to consumer demands.

Question 2

What is marketisation the cause of?

Answer 2

Rapid growth in competition between diverse (vast range of ethnicity’s) and choice (ability to pick)

Question 3

What are the key points of marketisation as a policy?

Answer 3

Involves the promotion of school choice (parentocracy) the creation of academies and free schools and the use of league tables to rank schools based on performance

Question 4

What is meant by the ‘education market’ that marketisation has created?

Answer 4

• reducing state control over education
• increasing competition between both schools and the parental choice of schools

Question 5

When was the Education Reform Act published?

Answer 5

1988

Question 6

Who introduced the 1988 Education Reform Act and what was the main theme?

Answer 6

• Margaret Thatchers Conservative Government
• The main aim was marketisation

Question 7

When was the New Labour Government in power and who was leading the party?

Answer 7

1997
- Tony Blair and Gordon Brown

Question 8

What theme did the New Labour Government take?

Answer 8

They followed similar marketisation policies but placed a greater emphasis on standards, diversity and choice

Question 9

How did the Conservative- Liberal Democrat coalition take marketisation even further?-

Answer 9

Introduced academies and free schoolsW

Question 10

What do Neoliberals and New Right argue about marketisation?

Answer 10

Marketisation means that schools attract customers (parents) by competing with each other in the market. Schools that provide customers with what they want, such as success in the exams, will thrive and ‘won’t go out of business’.

Question 11

Policy that promotes marketisation (L….)

Answer 11

League tables - the publication of these and Ofsted reports that rank each school according to its performance, parents can choose the right school

Question 12

Policy that promotes markertisation from a business perspective

Answer 12

Sponsorships

Question 13

Third policy that promotes marketisation (open..)

Answer 13

Open enrolment - allowing successful schools to recruit more pupils

Question 14

Fourth policy that promotes marketisation (spe..)

Answer 14

Specialist schools - widen parental choice

Question 15

Fifth policy that promotes marketisation (aca…)

Answer 15

Academies - means schools are allowed to avoid authoritical control (e.g to become academies)

Question 16

Sixth policy that promotes marketisation (tui…)

Answer 16

Tuition fees - introduction of tuition fees for higher education

Question 17

What is the effect of parentocracy on schools?

Answer 17

Encourages diversity amongst schools, gives parents more choice and raises standards

Question 18

What is cream skimming?

Answer 18

‘Good’ schools can be more selective, choose their own customers and recruit high achieving, mainly middle class pupils. As a result, these pupils gain an advantage.

Question 19

What is silt shifting?

Answer 19

‘Good’ schools can avoid taking less able pupils who are likely to get poor results and damage the schools league table position

Question 20

What happens to schools with poor league tables?

Answer 20

They cannot afford to be selective and have to take less able students, mainly working class so their results are poorer and remain unattractive to middle class parents.

Question 21

How do popular schools benefit from formula funding?

Answer 21

They get more funding so they can afford better facilities and better qualified teachers, therefore allowing them to be selective of high ability students.

Question 22

First policy that New Labour Governments of 1997-2010 introduced to try and decrease marketisation?

Answer 22

Aim Higher - raise aspirations of groups who are under-represented in higher education

Question 23

Second policy that New Labour Governments of 1997-2010 introduced to try and decrease marketisation?

Answer 23

Educational Action Zones - designating these to deprived areas and providing them with additional resources

Question 24

Third policy that New Labour Governments of 1997-2010 introduced to try and decrease marketisation?

Answer 24

Educational Maintenance Allowances (EMA) - payments to students from low income backgrounds to encourage them to stay on after 16 to gain better qualifications

Question 25

Fourth policy that New Labour Governments of 1997-2010 introduced to try and decrease marketisation?

Answer 25

National Literacy Strategy - introducing a compulsory amount of hours spent on numeracy and literacy and reducing primary school classes - great advantage to disadvantaged groups so help to reduce inequality

Question 26

Fifth policy that New Labour Governments of 1997-2010 introduced to try and decrease marketisation?

Answer 26

City Academies - gave a fresh start to struggling inner-city schools with a mainly working class population