Y12 M1

• What year was the Education Reform Act introduced?

  1988
• Who introduced the Education Reform Act?

  Thatcher
• Why was the Education Reform Act introduced?

  Introducing market forces into the education system. By running schools like businesses, they would be forced to compete, therefore bettering performance throughout every school
• What did the Education Reform Act introduce?

  • A national curriculum
  • Standardized testing
  • Publication of school league tables
  • Ofsted inspections
• 1918 Fisher Act?

  Compulsory free schooling up until age 14
• The Tripartitie system?

  ALL to sit the 11+

  • Grammar school
  • Secondary modern school
  • Technical school
• New Vocationalism?

  Government involvement in youth training to build skills required by industry

  • Training schemes (YTS)
  • Vocational qualifications (GNVQs)
• The National Curriculum?

  • Age 5-16 years all pupils must study english, maths and science
  • Pupils were tested in the core subjects (SATs) and schools would be judged by the performance
• How did the ERA marketise schools?

  • Reducing direct state control over education
  • Increasing competition between schools
  • Increasing parental choice of schools
• Who thought that introducing a parentocracy to schools favours the middle class, who have economic and cultural capital that means they are able to choose 'better' schools for their children?

  Gewirtz
• How many types of parents did Gewirtz theorise?

  3
• What parent types did Gewirtz suggest?

  • Privileged-skilled choosers
  • Disconnected -local choosers
  • Semi-skilled choosers
• Who were privileged skilled choosers?

  Professional middle-class parents that gain educational capital for their children. Being confident and well-educated means able to take full advantage of choices open to them
• Who were disconnected local choosers?

  Working class parents limited by a lack of economic/cultural capital. Distance/travel costs, awareness of choices available and an inability to manipulate the system were also limiting factors
• Who were semi-skilled choosers?

  Mainly working class but ambitious for their children. Lacked cultural capital, relied on other's opinions about schools, frustrated at an inability to get into wanted schools
• Who suggested parentocracy?

  Ball
• How did Ball explain parentocracy?

  Middle class parents are advantaged - they have more economic and cultural capital, and are able to take advantage of the choices available (eg move to better catchment areas)
• Labour education policy in 1997?

  • reduce inequality in education
  • promote diversity and choice in education
• What policies did labour introduce in 1997 to tackle educational inequality?

  • Education action zones
  • Aim higher programmes
  • EMA payments
  • The National Literacy Strategy
  • Raising the school leaving age to 18 by 2015
• What were Education Action Zones?

  Providing areas of deprivation additional resources
• What were Aim higher programmes?

  Raise aspirations of under-represented groups in education
• What was the National Literacy Strategy?

  Established a literacy target of 80% of 11 year olds by 2002
• What was the problem with the funding formula?

  Popular schools with already good results (hence their popularity) get even more funding, whilst unpopular underfunded schools struggled
• How did the funding formula work?

  The higher demand a school attracts, the more funding it recieves
• How did Labour encourage diversity in schools?

  Secondary schools encouraged to apply for specialist status

  By 2007, 85% of all had specialisms

  Labour also encouraged academies to raise achievement amongst the working class
• How were city academies introduced?

  • Introduced in 2002 in a five year plan
  • Designed to improve inner city education by building new schools, technology, and changing the ethos
  • Controversial as schools can only get academy status if they raise £2 million in private funds
• Post 2010 coalition policies?

  • Academies
  • Free schools
  • Free school meals
  • Pupil premium
  • Extended free childcare hours
• What did academies post 2010 mean?

  Schools were encouraged to leave local authority control and become academies. Funding would go straight to the academies from central government and academies would control their curriculum
• How many schools were academies by 2017?

  68%
• Limits of academies post 2010?

  Conservatives approach allowed any school to become an academy - less focus on reducing inequality like Labour's original idea
• What were free schools?

  Funded by the state but set up and ran by parents/teachers/faith organisations/businesses rather than the local authority
• Benefits of free schools?

  They can improve standards by taking control away from the state to parents
• Criticisms of free schools?

  Benefits children from highly educated families and increase the class divide in education - research shows they accept much lower numbers from disadvantaged backgrounds
• How have private companies become involved in education?

  Building schools, providing supply teachers, work-based learning, careers advice, Ofsted inspections and running local education authorities
• What did Ball claim about privatisation in education?

  Companies make up to 10x more profit as other contracts
• How is education becoming globalised?

  Ball - most private companies are foreign owned, Pearson operates in Sydney and Iowa

  UK's four leading educational software companies are owned by global multinationals eg Disney
• What is 'cola-isation'?

  The process of the private sector indirectly penetrating education, for example, through vending machines in schools
• What did Beder say about cola-isation?

  Benefits to schools and pupils are limited - UK families spent £110,000 in Tesco supermarkets in return for a single computer for schools
• What does Hall say on the impact of coalition policies?

  They are part of the 'long march of the neoliberal revolution'

  Academies are an example of handing public services to private capitalists

  Privatization and competition to drive up standards is a muth used to legitimate turning education into profit
• What do neoliberals think of privatisation in education?

  Education must be meritocractic and promote social integration. They are critical of state involvement in this, arguing it leads to bureaucratic self-interest, stifling initiative and low standards