Educational Policy& Inequality

• Selection Triparte system: 1944 education act

  children selected and allocated to 3 schools due to abilities and attitudes
• (11+): WC- reproduces & legitimises class inequality, as ability is inborn
• The comprehensive school system:

  • Functionalists- fulffling essential functions
• Marxists see school system as seeing the interests of MC
• Marketisation: introducing market forces of consumer choice and competition between suppliers into areas run by that state
• 1997 new labour: empathising standards, diversity and choice than 2010 government wanted to develop it
• Parentocracy = increases diversity among schools increasing choice and standards (DAVID 1993)
• Reproduction of inequality- Ball- marketisation polarise exam league tables reproudce class inequalities = inequality between schools
• Privileged skilled: MC parents = Econ& cultural capital= to best of children
• Gewiritz: Partental choice =

  • study of 14 London secondary schools
  • differences in parent Econ& cultural cap = class deficit
• Barlett: ' cream skimming' = good schools more selective

  silt skimming = good schools avoid taking less able pupils
• BALL:

  • Myth of parentcracy ( education system seems as if its based on parents having a choice but its a myth)
• New labour inequality: EMA increased funding for state schools
• Conservative government polices from 2010:

  • Free school parents and teachers the opportunity to create a new school if they are unhappy with state schools in the area
• Fragmented centralisation:

  competitive system is being replaced by a patchwork of diverse provision
• Polices to reduce inequality:

  • EMA was abolished
  • uni tripled to 9000
• The privatisation of education:

  public assets such as schools to private companies
• privisation= inside knowledge
• BALL ( Pearsons GSCE exams are marked in Sydney and IOWA)
• Ball = privisation= shaping educational policy
• Legitimate object of private profit making explanation and the ratcheting up of policy overtime opens more education services for profit
• Stuart Hall= privatisation= aids capitalists = more control over education = more profit
• Policies on Gender:

  1. 19th century - females were largely excluded from higher education
  2. triparte system girls had to achieve higher than boys
• Ethnicity and policies:

  • multiculturalism
  • promoting achievement of EM
  • including cultures into school system
• Evaluation of EM:

  • Stone (1981): black pupils don't fail for lack of self esteem so MCE is wrong