Educational policy

Question 1

What is educational policy ?

Answer 1

Service provided to the vast majority of British children

Oversea the way education is run through the production and enforcement of their policies

Question 2

The tripartite system

Answer 2

• 1944
• Children would take the 11+ and those who passed would be sent to Grammar schools, those who failed would be sent to secondary moderns or technical schools

Question 3

Benefits of the tripartite system

Answer 3

• Helped sift and sort pupils according to ability meaning they could persue a secondary ed. which better suited their needs
• First time Britain introduced compulsory education + seen as meritocratic

Question 4

Criticisms of the tripartite system

Answer 4

• failed to enact social mobility
• reinforced gender inequalities by making it more difficult for girls to pass the 11+ so women often placed in a secondary modern where they could study home economics and childcare
• Maintained class inequalities, the majority of those in grammar schools were M.C. due to being able to afford tuition + there was a middle class habitus
• Unis ended up being M.C.

Question 5

Comprehensive system + aims

Answer 5

• 1965

- Aimed to : remove the 11+ requirement, introduce a catchment system and introduce a national curriculum

Question 6

Failures of the comprehensive system

Answer 6

• Unlike Acts, LEAs were not obligated to replace their tripartite system with a comprehensive one and many initially refused
• Due to it being based on pupils attending local schools, social mixing didn’t happen
• There are practices in comprehensive schools eg setting, streaming and negative labelling

Question 7

Successes of the comprehensive system

Answer 7

• equal opportunities eg same curriculum
• The comp system acknowledged that 11 year olds developed at different times
• enables social integration

Question 8

Shift to neoliberalism in politics

Answer 8

• Thatcher 1979 : free market politics, limited government intervention, competitive and marketisation

Question 9

Education reform act

Answer 9

• 1988
• aimed to reduce state control over schools + encourage the marketisation of schools
• Reforms included : removal of catchment areas and replacement with open enrolments, introduction of a national curriculum and the same national assessments so the results could be comparable, introduce league tables, establish ofsted and introduction of the formula funding
• created a more competitive system

Question 10

1. Raises the standards of education overall (Marketisation)

Answer 10

• Raises the standards of education overall
• NR claim its raises standards because schools are dependent on the custom of parents so they need to work harder to be successful
• funding wasn’t guaranteed so teachers have more motivation to work hard and support the pupils who need it

Question 11

2. Helps reduce inequalities in achievement (marketisation)

Answer 11

• Helps reduce inequalities in achievement
• schools in areas with issues eg poverty must work hard to gain funding so teachers are more likely to provide effective support for disadvantaged pupils specifically the formula funding is a motivator

Question 12

Why marketisation is effective ?

Answer 12

1. Raises the standards of education overall
2. Helps reduce inequalities in achievement
3. Marketisation gives parents more control in education

Question 13

Criticisms of the effectiveness of marketisation

Answer 13

1. There are a number of barriers which effect a school’s success eg demographic makeup of pupils
   It is too simplistic to say schools will do better because odd being motivated to work harder
2. There is no guarantee that the funding formula will genuinely help reduce inequalities in achievement - there are external factors
3. Not true for all parents eg WC likely to be less knowledgeable

Question 14

Challenges to parentocracy

Answer 14

• Gewitz : found there were 3 types of parents when selecting a good school
• skilled privileged choosers (MC, Economic capital and knew to look at ofsted reports)
• Disconnected local choosers (WC, lacked cultural capital, placed a high value on the schools appearance, lacked economic capital so sent their kids to the closest school)
• Semi-skilled choosers (WC but more ambitious, lacked cultural capital, wanted them to go to a good school but lacked knowledge on the application process)
• Ball agrees saying it also helps justify inequality as it reinforces the myth of meritocracy

Question 15

Challenges to marketisation (general not the theories)

Answer 15

• Marketisation encourages schools to be more selective in their recruitment
• Ball = schools are under immense pressure to achieve good gcse results
• Barlett = this encourages schools to cream skim eg white mc pupils and silt sift eg only offer applications online so only affluent families can access it
• Schools who underperform cannot be selective thus a cycle of underperforming occurs each year

Question 16

Challenges to the funding formula bringing about equality

Answer 16

• Not all schools benefit from this system as it creates a cycle if exam results aren’t good, not many parents send their child to a school, it gets less funding and this cyclic effect continues
• Schools who are struggling are unable to invest in which will help them achieve eg better teachers and resources so they are unable to better their situation
• This creates further divides within pupils from different backgrounds
• Underachieving schools then become filled with disconnected parents (tending to be WC) so this means inequalities continue

Question 17

Challenges to the view that marketisation is more effective

Answer 17

1. Marketisation encourages schools to be more selective in their recruitment
2. Parentocracy is a myth
3. Formula funding creates a cycle of inequalities between schools

Question 18

Criticism of the challenges to the view that marketisation is effective (general)

Answer 18

1. More pupils are encouraged to take pupils from disadvantaged backgrounds and given more funding for doing so
2. system is still preferable to the comprehensive one, at least there is room for manoeuvre
3. Pupils from disadvantaged schools receive more funding

Question 19

Marketisation under New Labour

Answer 19

• Supported marketisation but added lost of policies :
  1. Est the Aim Higher programme which helped pupils in deprived areas
  2. Funding the education maintenance allowance eg £30 per week
  3. Overhauled the A-level curriculum by sitting exams in modules
  4. Banned the creation of new selective grammar schools
• Blair wanted to raise aspirations and achievements of those from disadvantaged backgrounds

Question 20

Criticisms of New labour

Answer 20

• Policies are contradictory as they also increased tuition fees for uni
• Also failed to challenge the existence of private education

Question 21

Marketisation since 2010

Answer 21

• 2011 Education Act by Gove under Cameron
  1. Introduction of academies and free schools (more freedom from the government)
  2. Introduction of pupil premium for schools who recruit disadvantaged pupils
  3. Overhaul of the curriculum to make GCSEs and A levels more academic + reduced coursework
  4. Scrapped the Education Maintenance Allowance
  5. Raised tuition fees to £9000 believed it would raises standards
• Argued that this helped restore high standards in education + help supports disadvantaged pupils

Question 22

Critics of Education policy post 2010

Answer 22

• Funding cuts have worsened the education gap eg free schools can be more selective
• Many schools are struggling financially and the closure of schools (COVID) has highlighted the inconsistencies

Question 23

Marketisation leading to privatisation

Answer 23

• Funded by an individual company

- Money making opportunities for schools have been enabled through privatisation eg building work and teachers

Question 24

4 ways marketisation has led to privatisation of educational services

Answer 24

1. State education can act as a base for private business opportunities
2. Schools have undergone a process of coloisation
3. There are more opportunities for public-private partnerships
4. British educational policy and practice has globalised

Question 25

State education can act as a base for private business opportunities

Answer 25

• Pollock
• Many people who work in state education go on to pursue career opportunities in the private sector with the skills they’ve learnt
• Many ex-teachers will go on to work for private inspection companies
• Exam boards are privately run companies primarily made up of current and former teachers who write assessments
• Blurring of public/private boundaries and platform for profit making

Question 26

Schools have undergone a process of colaisation

Answer 26

• Molnar
• Schools often act as a base for other companies to sell their products
• Colaisation = when schools show brand loyalty to certain companies eg seen in vending machines where only certain snacks or water are available
• Connections with specific stationary companies eg with discounted rates or selling products at school
• Sometimes there are short-term deals to schools in exchange for products sold eg 2005 Tescos “computers for schools” campaign in which vouchers were given for every £10 spent to donate to schools
• Idea is that both the school and business benefit from the relationship
• However for every £110,000 tescos made, only 1 computer was donated

Question 27

There are more opportunities for public private partnerships

Answer 27

• Increasingly common for schools and private businesses to work collaboratively together in long term contracts
• Eg some building companies dedicate their services to schools by providing renovation which the schools then pay for through grants, PTA, or charities
• This creates a win-win situation as the building company makes a profit from a reliable source, the schools benefits from its new facilities and any donations are recognised and gain status

Question 28

British educational policy and practice has globalised

Answer 28

• Practices in the UK have been packaged up and sold to international clients for profit
• Eg British international schools have been set up in which parents pay vast sums for the british curriculum
• Tend to be set up by british teachers and staffed (provides them with opportunities to advance their careers and gain experience)
• Exam boards then sell their papers to these schools (generally at a higher price) so these pupils can sit GCSEs and A-levels
• Many of the international schools are run by British based academy chains
• Many suppliers of resources to Britain eg Pearson/edexel are international companies which highlights how british education contributes towards profits internationally for businesses

Question 29

Supporters of privatisation

Answer 29

• Gives schools more control over their finances and resources by enabling them to set up contracts with who they wish
• Provides staff with more opportunities

Question 30

Critics of privatisation

Answer 30

• Education no longer provides us what we need eg schools have become preoccupied with managing finances
• Education has become a money making scheme focused on finances instead of education children
• By forcing schools to collaborate with private companies, it reduces the amount of responsibility the government have

Question 31

3. Marketisation gives parents more control in education (Marketisation)

Answer 31

3. Marketisation gives parents more control in education (creates a parentocracy)
   - David : these policies encourage a parentocracy, rule by parent, where parents can voice their dissatisfactions which encourages schools to work harder