Educational Policy

Question 1

What are the 4 main political parties involved in the policy making?

Answer 1

Conservative, Labour (New and Old), Liberal Democrats and the Coalition Group

Question 2

What political party passed the 1944 Butler act?

Answer 2

Conservatives

Question 3

What was the Tripartite System?

Answer 3

• Introduced 11+ exams
• Designed to separate into grammar, secondary moderns and technical colleges

Question 4

Which social classes would attend the schools brought in by the tripartite system?

Answer 4

Grammar schools - upper and upper-middle
Secondary Modern - middle
Technical College - lower class

Question 5

Define Meritocracy (give theorist and perspective)

Answer 5

Durkheim - Functionalist - The idea that you get out of society what you put in

Question 6

Durkheim’s concepts

Answer 6

• meritocracy

Question 7

Define role allocation (give perspective and theorists)

Answer 7

Davis and Moore - functionalists - ensures that roles are filled in society by setting people up for that at school.

Question 8

Davis and Moore

Answer 8

• Role allocation

Question 9

what are the 3 types of capital? (theorist and perspective)

Answer 9

Bourdieu - Marxist - Economic, educational, cultural; idea of richness in those areas is capital

Question 10

Bourdieu

Answer 10

• 3 capitals

Question 11

Who generally did better in exams?

Answer 11

Girls

Question 12

What was happening due to the tripartite system regarding gender and how was it ‘solved’?

Answer 12

Girls were doing better in schools and getting higher grades so more were going to the grammar schools and boys to secondary moderns - to make it ‘fair and equal’ girls were given higher grade boundaries by the men in power.

Question 13

Which three theorists are linked to the 1944 Butler Act?

Answer 13

Durkheim, Davis and Moore and Bourdieu

Question 14

What political party passed comprehensivisation in the 60s?

Answer 14

Labour

Question 15

what happened to the tripartite system in the 1960s?

Answer 15

It was mostly eradicated, some schools still had 11+ exams but it was mainly private education.

Question 16

Catchment areas (give theorist and perspective)

Answer 16

Leech and Campos - postmodernism - catchment areas were introduced and you would go to the schools closest to you, L&C found that people would move to nicer catchments to go to better schools, people who can’t afford to move stay there and lead to the creation of sink schools.

Question 17

Define ‘Sink Schools’

Answer 17

A school that consistently underperforms, often struggles with low exam results, poor behaviour and a lack of resources. Usually in strongly disadvantaged communities and have high turnovers of staff and students.

Question 18

What happens when more people move to nicer catchments?

Answer 18

Posher areas are created - as more people move, house prices go up and the areas become known for being more expensive and wealthier.

Question 19

Explain the cycle of deprivation in relation to catchment areas.

Answer 19

If lower classes can’t afford to move to better CA’s, they get stuck going to the poor or sinking schools in their area, they can’t then get the same quality of education as more upper class students leading to them finding it harder to get a better job in the future. This often means they are stuck in the lower class and unable to get out.

Question 20

Leech and Campos

Answer 20

• Catchment areas

Question 21

Which political party passed New Vocationalism in the 70s?

Answer 21

Labour

Question 22

What was the main change in New Vocationalism?

Answer 22

• New qualification types
• Generally more vocational e.g health and social care or engineering.
• NVQ: National Vocational Qualification

Question 23

What modern day qualifications are NVQ’s equivalent to?

Answer 23

BTECs and T-Levels

Question 24

Who was pushed towards the NVQs and why?

Answer 24

• Lower classes
• ‘Not as academically capable’
• seen as easier route

Question 25

How does the New Vocationalism policy link to the 1944 Butler Act?

Answer 25

The division of classes with LCs being driven towards an easier route and UCs being driven to academic routes (A-Levels) is similar to the functioning of the tripartite system

Question 26

What also increased during the introduction of NVQs?

Answer 26

Degree Apprenticeships

Question 27

Which political party passed the 1988 Education Reform Act?

Answer 27

Conservatives

Question 28

What were the main changes in the Education Reform Act, 1988?

Answer 28

- National curriculum introduced - GCSEs - League Tables - Ofsted - Marketisation of schools

Question 29

What are league tables? (Include theorists and perspective)

Answer 29

Gilbourn and Youdell - Interactionists - tables that showed grades from all schools in the country, the better your grades, the higher up the table you are.

Question 30

Which subjects impact league tables the most?

Answer 30

English, Maths and Science

Question 31

How has marketisation impacted schools?

Answer 31

Education has become a commodity: open evenings, parents evenings, PR and social media. Parents effectively 'shop' for a school.

Question 32

How does formula funding impact schools?

Answer 32

Good students = money = better education The schools that have more money have better resources and therefore sink schools are further impacted

Question 33

What is the purpose of Ofsted?

Answer 33

to keep an eye on and monitor schools

Question 34

Who is Ruth Perry?

Answer 34

- A headteacher of a primary school - Ofsted came in before Christmas - the school was perfect as an institution - Some girls were found doing TikTok dances on the playground - seen as safeguarding issue - School automatically failed because of it - She knew before she could tell her staff or anyone - she put her everything into that school and cared so much about it - she committed suicide before the end of the holidays out of guilt.

Question 35

What is a main criticism of Ofsted?

Answer 35

They aren't in schools long enough to get a true measure of their capability.

Question 36

Explain the 3 types of parental school choosers. (Theorist and perspective)

Answer 36

Gerwitz - Marxist: 1. Privileged school chooser - UC, have high capitals, know the schools, read league tables and Ofsted reports 2. Semi-skilled chooser - MC or UWC, word of mouth and reputations 3. Disconnected local choosers - LC, whatever is nearest, cost, distance, own perception of the school, often sink schools

Question 37

What was section 28 of the 1988 education reform act?

Answer 37

Banned teaching of homosexuality in schools, removed from the curriculum as it was seen as a 'pretend family unit' - this was 80s and it was legalised in the 60s so a step back

Question 38

What later happened to section 28 of the education reform act?

Answer 38

Abolished in 2003 but there was still backlash and the 'haunting of section 28' regarding the thought of 'could this happen again?'

Question 39

What is New Labour?

Answer 39

A period of time during 1997-2010 where Tony Blair and Gordon Brown were in power. They were a new labour that also had some old labour esque policies about them.

Question 40

What was the EMA and was it old or new labour esque?

Answer 40

Education Maintenance Allowance that gave £30 a week to attend college with criteria (Old Labour)

Question 41

What were Education Action Zones and were they old or new labour esque?

Answer 41

areas with higher rates of deprivation that received more funding to run breakfast/after school clubs etc (Old Labour)

Question 42

What were EAZs replaced with in 2006?

Answer 42

Excellence in cities - aimed to provide support where needed through tutors and access to technology etc

Question 43

Who was Victoria Climbie and what act did her case create?

Answer 43

- murdered by great aunt and great aunt's boyfriend - she had 128 injuries - 12 chances to have saved her - led to dialogue around safeguarding - Every child matters and Children Act 2004

Question 44

Explain the 4 aims of show start centres and were they new or old labour esque?

Answer 44

1. provide affordable early years provision 2. raise parenting aspirations 3. provide knowledge on health 4. act as a community hub (Old Labour)

Question 45

Compensatory Education (theorist and perspective)

Answer 45

Trowler - Marxist - show start centres improved educational standards but didn't lessen the attainment gap.

Question 46

Explain the 2 New Labour esque policies created

Answer 46

- introduction of uni fees - introduction of academies and tried reducing class sizes and added literacy and numeracy hour

Question 47

Callendar and Jackson - uni fees (perspective and explanation)

Answer 47

Marxist - working class had a fear of debt so wouldn't attend university.

Question 48

Give any 5 main things brought in by the coalition government from 2010-2015?

Answer 48

- combination of conservative and liberal dems (opposites) - A** in 9-1 grading - Linear exams and scrapped AS exams - Slimmed and dragged down curriculum: parts of A-Level content was now taught at GCSE - Uni fees were upped from £2,000 to £9,000 - some unis (mets) stayed at £4,500: socio-economic divide - forced academisation of failing schools - Free schools - pupil premium: free school meals, reduced trip costs - 2014 British values - equality act 2010

Question 49

Name 3 things that were brought into place during the 2020 Coronavirus Act in the education system

Answer 49

- online teaching - cancellation of exams - TAGs and CAGs - teacher and centre assessed grades - Schools kept open for key worker's students

Question 50

What was the FSM Food Hamper Scandal during Covid?

Answer 50

It was outsourced to 'friends' and made it cheaper than it should have been - they were paid millions but weren't giving everything in the hampers they were meant to even though. they were given to kids who got free school meals.