Social Policy in Education Flashcards
(36 cards)
What act was introduced in 1944?
1944 Education Act
What did the 1944 Education act state?
- Introduction of tri-tripartite of ‘equal status’ schools
-Grammar
-Secondary Modern
-Technical Schools
- Children would sit an IQ test to test innate ability (the 11+)
- Those who passed the 11+ would go to grammar school
What was the 1944 Education act’s aims?
- Post-war welfare state - creating a land fit for heroes.
- Response to Beveridge report - 5 ‘evils’: Ignorance
- To abolish inequalities
- The 11+ was seen as a fair and scientific way to see the ability a child was ‘born with’
What was the strengths of the 1944 Education act?
- Provided upward social mobility for the working-class children who passed the 11+, also continues to provide high quality education for the 5% that still go to a grammar school.
What are the weaknesses of the 1944 Education act?
- Only two school choices, Technical colleges were un-affordable and became phased out
- Secondary Modern / Technical students were labelled failures and were not allowed to sit formal exams - wasting large amounts of working class talent.
- Marxist critical of the elaborated code the 11+ exam was wrote in, excluding w/c and e/m children who spoke restricted code - Grammar schools became heavily populated by m/c students.
- Feminists critical of fewer grammar places for girls, and higher pass rate than boys to attend - assumed girls aspired to be expressive role.
- Disparity in grammar school places - 12% in places, 40% in others.
What act was introduced in 1965?
1965 Comprehensive Education Act.
What was the 1965 Comprehensive Education Act?
Abolished selection at age of 11, and aimed to educate all children in same secondary regardless of, class, age, gender, ethnicity, or ability.
What were the aims of the 1965 Comprehensive Education Act?
- Critical of the highly divisive tripartite system in that social mobility had stalled.
- Believed meritocratic ideals were more likely to occur in a comprehensive where all children are given the same opportunity.
What were the strengths of the 1965 Comprehensive Education Act?
- Recognised children develop at different rates and could reward late bloomers in higher sets/streams rather than selection at 11.
What were the weaknesses of the 1965 Comprehensive Education Act?
- Geographical catchment areas - reducing social cohesion and mixing between social classes.
- Private education still exists for wealthy (7%).
- Inequality between schools replaced with inequality within schools.
- Hargreaves and Ball - argue comprehensives reproduce the Grammar and Secondary Modern system.
- Not all local authorities shut grammar schools - 5% of students today still attend the selective schools.
Where were the New Rights criticisms of the 1965 Comprehensive Education Act?
- Lacked discipline - students organising strike events.
- Poor results.
- Failed to prepare children for work, even though results improved.
- Local authority monopoly on provision disincentivised improvements / good teaching standards.
- Lack of parental choices in schools.
What act was introduced in 1988?
The Education Reform Act 1988.
What were the features of The Education Reform Act 1988?
- Testing - SATS, GCSES, and A-Levels
- National Curriculum
- League Tables - to drive competition + OFSTED inspections
- Open enrolment - parents could send kids to any ‘local’ state school
What were the aims of The Education Reform Act 1988?
- Marketisation would increase competition - schools would have to improve or have funding cut. This increases choice for parents (Parentocracy).
- Local authority schools were ‘failing’ children - no incentives for schools to improve individually.
What were the strengths of The Education Reform Act 1988?
- Results improved
What were the weaknesses of The Education Reform Act 1988?
- Still significant class, gender and ethnicity disparity in results.
- Testing increased stress on students and staff.
- League tables and competition are counter-productive - low ability students barred from taking exams and funnelled into ‘easy’ low status qualifications. (Incentivises cheating - strain theory).
- Money is spent on marketing, not education provision.
- Few places in popular schools - less choice for many pupils.
- Class differences are reinforced as m/c use cultural + economic capital to get into the ‘best’ schools. Parents can impress the school at interview & afford transport costs out of catchment area. (Ball)
What did the New Right believe in for education?
Marketisation
What is marketisation?
- Introduction of market forces of consumer choice and competition.
- Government policy since The Education Reform Act 1988 have had marketisation at the core
What policy examples support marketisation?
- National Curriculum.
- SATs, GCSEs, A-Levels.
- League tables and OFSTED reports.
- Open admissions.
- Academisation.
- Variable tuition fee at university.
- Business sponsorship’s of schools.
- Parents can create free schools.
- Funding formulas based on number of students a school attracts.
What did New Labour policy introduce?
- Specialist Schools.
- City Academies.
- Sure Start Centres.
- EMA (Educational Maintenance Allowance.)
What were Specialist Schools?
Schools that were supposedly expert in one of 10 subject areas.(sports, business, maths etc..)
What was the purpose of introducing Specialist Schools?
New Labour was continuing market forces agenda, giving parents more choice over school in an aim to drive up standards in a parentocracy.
What were the strengths of Specialist Schools?
- The additional funding helped improved facilities of schools, including more specialist PE and IT equipment.
What were the weaknesses of Specialist Schools?
- Schools weren’t often specialist in that subject, funding was giving to help them get better in that subject area - giving parents a false impression.
