Policies

Question 1

EDUCATION IN BRITAIN BEFORE THE 1970s - The 1944 EducationAct

Answer 1

The 1944 Education Act established 3 types of secondary school, known A THE TRIPARTITE SYSTEM

CHILDREN ALLOCATED IQ TEST (11+) - CHILD HAD “FIXED” ABILITY DETERMINED BY INHERITANCE

Question 2

EDUCATION IN BRITAIN BEFORE THE 1970S - grammar

Answer 2

The “top” 15-20% of children were sent to grammar schools and they mostly produced members of the upper/middle class

Question 3

EDUCATION IN BRITAIN BEFORE THE 1970S - technical

Answer 3

Few were established and generally prepared children to be lower middle/skilled manual working class

Question 4

EDUCATION IN BRITAIN BEFORE THE 1970S - secondary modern

Answer 4

Most children were sent to this type of school and they tended to be prepared to be the workimg class

Question 5

Why did the 60s tripartite system go under attack?

Answer 5

• 11+ seen as unreliable and unfairly advantaged from working class homes
• self esteem of children DAMAGED if they were sent to second rate = less life choices
• talent,ability and potential of many children in secondary modern WASTED

Question 6

In 1968

Answer 6

Tripartite system and 11+ abolished in most of the country

Question 7

By the 1970s most children attended:

Answer 7

Comprehensive schools

Question 8

THEORETICAL VIEWS ON COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS -

functionalists

Answer 8

Comprehensives promote social segregation, social solidarity and meritocracy by bringing students from very difficult backgrounds and abilities together

Question 9

THEORETICAL VIEWS ON COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS - Marxists

Answer 9

Equality of opportunity and meritocracy are ideological myths. Streaming mainly benefits students from middle- class background. Working-class students are more likely to be found in bottom sets or streams and to leave school with fewer qualifications

Question 10

THEORETICAL VIEWS ON COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS - new rights

Answer 10

Inner-city comprehensives suffer more truancy, indiscipline and poorer standards of teaching

Question 11

THEORETICAL VIEWS ON COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS - liberal femenists

Answer 11

Comprehensives have worked hard to reduce gender stereotyping. Consequently, girls today are achieving better exam results than boys

Question 12

THEORETICAL VIEWS ON COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLS - radical feminists

Answer 12

Comprehensives are patriarchal institutions. They reproduce patriarchal power in the economy by funnelling girls into stereotypical subject choices. This results in low-status and low-paid careers

Question 13

Catchment areas

Answer 13

Urban areas are rarely socially mixed because people tend to live alongside others from similar social backgrounds.
E.G INNER-CITY AREAS CONTAIN A DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBER OF POOR PEOPLE, WHILE THE SUBURBS CONTAIN A DISPROPORTIONATE NUMBER OF MIDDLE-CLASS PEOPLE

Question 14

CATCHMENT AREASn - Consequences of a deprived inner-city catchment

Answer 14

May include a predominantly working-class intake from poorer families who may not be able to educationally support their children compared with middle-class parents.
AS A RESULT, SCHOOLS MAY BECOME ‘FAILING’ AND MAY THEN STRUGGLE TO ATTRACT TEACHING STAFF

Question 15

Selection by mortgage

Answer 15

A good school can considerably raise house prices in catchment areas, causing working-class parents to be priced out of the housing market

Question 16

SELECTION BY MORTGAGE - Gerwitz (1995)

Answer 16

Argues that MC parents may use ECONOMIC, SCOIAL and CULTURAL CAPITAL to get their children into top-performing comprehensives. Achievement levels and success rates in these schools are therefore likely to be high.

Question 17

Evaluation of comprehensive schools POSITIVE

Answer 17

• WC students have the opportunity to peruse the same qualifications as MC students
• More WC students now enter higher education
• greater range of courses nd qualifications

Question 18

Evaluation of comprehensive schools NEGATIVE

Answer 18

• Some local authorities continue with grammar schools
• comprehensive schools in suburban areas do better (class inequality)
• Hargreaves and ball argue comprehensives undermine streaming and setting. Social class rather than ability.

Question 19

equality of opportunity

Answer 19

the idea that people ought to be able to compete on equal terms, or on a “level playing field,” for advantaged offices and positions.

Question 20

meritocratic

Answer 20

award success based on personal input

Question 21

compensatory education

Answer 21

aims to tackle cultural deprivation by providing extra funds and resources to poorer students.

Question 22

educational priority areas (EPAs)

Answer 22

these were set up in 1967 in deprived parts of London, Birmingham,Liverpool and West Yorkshire to provide schools with extra money and resources to raise poor children’s achievement and encourage parental involvement in education.

Question 23

why were EPAs eventually abandoned

Answer 23

Bernstein observed “schools cannot compensate for society”

Question 24

Why the tripartite system failed

Answer 24

• few technical schools were built
• MC students dominated grammar schools because they were more likely to pass 11+
• 11+ IQ test was not culture-fair
• mainly benefitted students with access to economic and cultural capital
• secondary modern schools were seen as inferior to grammar school education.

Question 25

The Butler Education Act (1944)

Answer 25

introduced free secondary education for all (up to age 15 years) resulting in the tripartite system of secondary schools and the introduction of an IQ test and 11+

Question 26

What is marketisation?

Answer 26

Marketisation is used to refer to a trend in education policy from the 1980s where schools were encouraged to compete against each other and act more like private businesses rather than institutions under the control of local government.

Question 27

What is privatisation?

Answer 27

Privatisation is a process where institutions or other bodies are transferred from being owned by the state (or government) to being owned by private companies.

Question 28

Examples of privatisation in the education system

Answer 28

Academies and Free Schools which are run and owned by private companies or corporations that have significant control over them,