Education: Privatisation and Globalisation

Question 1

Which government encouraged the privatisation of education?

Answer 1

Policies encouraging the privatisation of education were a key part of the conservative governments aims from 2015 onwards.

Question 2

Why do the New Right and Neoliberals support privatisation policy?

Answer 2

They argue state involvement leads to a beaurocratic self interest and low standards. They believe that private companies are used to keeping cost down so will run certain aspects of the education system more efficiently than LEAs.

Question 3

Private Finance Intitatives

Answer 3

When private companies work together with the state, for example as a part of large scale building projects.

Question 4

How are private companies involved in large scale building projects?

Answer 4

Private sector companies can provide cheap capital to design, build, and operate new buildings.

Question 5

How

Question 6

How have private public partnerships been criticised?

Answer 6

Local authorities often don’t have a choice when entering these schemes and find it necessary as the only way of building new schools due to a lack of funding from central government. They pay back so much in interest that these schemes really only benefit the companies involved.

Question 7

Simon et al (2022)

Answer 7

Compred early years providers (nurseries) that were acting for profit to those that were non-profit. They theorised that for profit nursery chains were delibirately putting nurseries at risk of bankrupsy in order to extract government money to parent companies.

Question 8

What did Simon et al (2022) find out about early years providers acting for profit?

Answer 8

They were more likely to have:
1. High levels of debt
2. Poor accounting
3. Spent less on wages
4. Had lower educational standards

Question 9

How is the policy of academisation linked to the blurring of the public/private boundary?

Answer 9

Becuase many academies are run and operated by private corporations and become part of a chain.

Question 10

Pollack (2004)

Answer 10

Criticises academisation and marketisation for encouraging a side stepping of local authority democracy, which undermines LEA control of education.

Question 11

Why do Marxists criticise privatisation?

Answer 11

They argue it turns education into a commodity to be bought and sold by capitalists in an ‘education market’. The claim that privatisation creates competition and drives up standards is a myht used to legitimate turning education into a source of profits for the ruling class.

Question 12

Hall (2011)

Answer 12

Sees coalition government policies as part of the long march of the neoliberal revolution.

Question 13

Ball (2007)

Answer 13

Is critical of what they call the ‘education services industry’.

Question 14

How does privatisation link to increased choice and diversity?

Answer 14

Companies provide students with a diverse range of products and lerning material, particularly within the online sphere. This has improved the standards of education beucase pupils are more able to find resources and materials that best suit their learning needs and styles.

Question 15

What might postmodernists argue about privatisation?

Answer 15

Privatisation has priovided pupils with a more diverse range of learning materials and styles, and postmodernists argue this type of learning best reflects the needs of a post-fordist system.

Question 16

How is privatisation linked to globalisation?

Answer 16

Global multinationals provide schools and students with a diverse range of products and learning materials such as seneca, brainscape, and quizlet. The UK’s largest examination body Edexcel is also owned by the global corporation Pearsons.

Question 17

Buckingham and Scanlon (2005)

Answer 17

Found the UK’s four leading software companies are all owned by multinationals.

Question 18

Molnar (2005)

Answer 18

Argues schools are targeted by private companies becuase by their very nature they carry enormous goodwill and can thus confer legitimacy on anything associated with them.

Question 19

Ball - Cadbury Campaign

Answer 19

A Cadbury sports equipment promotion was scrapped after it was revealed that pupils would have to eat 5,440 chocolate bars to qualify for a set of volleyball posts.

Question 20

Do private companies consider the needs of pupils?

Answer 20

Molnar would argue no, beucase they simply exploit the ‘good image’ of schools to make a profit.

Question 21

Pearsons

Answer 21

Runs the exam boards in over 70 countries, meaning it sets the exams, pays the examiners and runs the training courses which teachers need to attend to understand examination criteria.

Question 22

What is an argument for the privatisation of examination systems?

Answer 22

It allows exams to be stanardised accross the globe, and saves the state time and money.

Question 23

What are the arguments in favour of the privatisation of education?

Answer 23

1. Governments only think in terms of the next election, whereas private companies have more of a long term outlook.
2. Encourages competition which drives up standards.
3. Private companies are used to keeping cost down, causing efficiency gains.
4. Allows for a more diverse education system, becuase there is more consumer choice.

Question 24

What is an empirical example against the privatisation of education?

Answer 24

The controversy involving free school meals provided by private companies during the pandemic, which footballer Marcus Rashford was involved in remedying.

Question 25

Globalisation

Answer 25

The increasing interconnectedness of the world through technological advancements, migration, cheap air travel, and so on.

Question 26

How has globalisation influenced educational policy?

Answer 26

1. Governments look to other countries to improve their own education system.
2. Increasing cultural globalisation leading to the introduction of multi-cultural education policies.
3. Increased competition in the global workplace, leading to the prioritisation of certain subjects.
4. Introduction of ‘British values’ into schools to counter supposed increased terrorism threat.

Question 27

How has the growth of the internet impacted on learning?

Answer 27

The growth of global media has challenged traditional ways of learning. Online global multinationals provide schools with a more diverse range of products and packages for example, seneca, brainscape, and quizlet.

Question 28

How has the growth of the internet influenced educational policies?

Answer 28

The growth of global media has challenged traditional educational policies. What role does a traditional school model have when you can get all your information for free on YouTube and the Studen Room? This has influenced individual school policies on home-based learning.

Question 29

Elective Home Education (1996)

Answer 29

Gives parents the opportunity to home school their children.

Question 30

Outline three ways in which globalisation has impacted on education

Answer 30

1. Growth of the internet and global media, has diverisfied learning.
2. Increasing cultural globalisation has led to a more multi-cultural education system.
3. Increased competition in the global workplace, has led to the prioritisation of certain subjects.

Question 31

Banks (1995)

Answer 31

Argues the 4 key components of multi-cultural education are:
1. Content integration
2. Prejudice reduction
3. Equity pedaology
4. An empowering school culture

Question 32

What are some examples of multicultural education?

Answer 32

• Schools serving halal/kosher food
• Teaching about the six world religions in school
• Offering designated prayer spaced dueing Eid
• Having a ‘culture day’

Question 33

How has the ‘global workplace’ affected education?

Answer 33

The workplace is much more competitive, because people no longer work in just one country. UK ocmplanies aren’t restricted to employing people just from the UK. As such, education needs to be adapted to give children the best qualifications to guarantee employment.

Question 34

PISA

Answer 34

Stands for the programme for International Student Assesment which conducts tests in douzens of countries every three years in reading, literacy, numerscy and maths and sciences, producing league tables which rsnkk countries based on average student perfomance.

Question 35

2010 Conservative Election Manifesto

Answer 35

Proposed a ‘schools revolution’ drawing on the Swedish free schools model and the charter school model in the US, to allow parents teachers and others to set up their own free schools.

Question 36

How do international league tables impact on national educational policies?

Answer 36

The results of such cross-national investigations can be applied on a national basis to shape and inform educational policies, investigating how policies in high performing countries make them come out on top.

Question 37

PREVENT (2011)

Answer 37

Was introduced as part of the overall counter-terrorist stratergy CONTEST. Its aim was to reduce the UK terrorist threat by stopping individuals from becoming radicalised. This involved ensuring staff know how to identify behaviour of concern and how to refern students who may be at risk for appropriate support.

Question 38

How has globalisation increased the terrorism threat?

Answer 38

By allowing extremists to radicalise young people via the internet. E.g Shamima Begum 2015.