Education

• What was the aim of the Comprehensive System introduced in 1965?

  To overcome class division in education
• What significant change did the Comprehensive System bring regarding student selection?

  Students were selected by catchment area
• What was abolished with the introduction of the Comprehensive System?

  The 11+ exam
• Who decided whether to switch to comprehensive schooling?

  Local education authorities
• How do Functionalists view the Comprehensive System's role in education?

  It promotes social integration and skill identification
• What do Marxists argue about the Comprehensive System?

  It reproduces class inequalities through streaming
• What is streaming in the context of education?

  Grouping pupils by ability for separate teaching
• What is the opposite of streaming?

  Mixed-ability teaching
• What does the term 'The Myth of Meritocracy' refer to?

  Schools justify inequalities as fair and just
• What are the four dimensions of equality of educational opportunity identified by Gillborn and Youdell?

  • Access
  • Participation
  • Circumstance
  • Outcome
• What does 'Access' mean in terms of educational opportunity?

  Everyone should be able to go to school
• What does 'Participation' refer to in educational equality?

  Equal rights to participate in school processes
• What does 'Circumstance' imply regarding educational opportunities?

  Same socioeconomic background for all students
• What does 'Outcome' mean in the context of educational equality?

  Equal chance to succeed after school
• What are educational policies and their purposes?

  • Plans and strategies by government for education
  • Aims to raise standards, create equality, and maintain efficiency
• What was the state of education in the UK before the 19th century?

  No state schools existed in the UK
• How did the Industrial Revolution affect education in the UK?

  Created demand for an educated workforce
• When did schooling become compulsory for children in the UK?

  By 1880
• What is 'ascribed status'?

  Status assigned at birth or involuntarily
• What is 'achieved status'?

  Status achieved through merit and ability
• How did education differ for middle-class and working-class pupils in the past?

  Middle-class received academic curriculum; working-class received basic skills
• What concept influenced education by 1944?

  The idea of meritocracy
• What was the purpose of the 11+ exam?

  To determine academic abilities at age eleven
• What were the three schooling routes determined by the 11+ exam?

  Grammar schools, secondary moderns, technical schools
• How did the tripartite system create inequalities?

  By channeling social classes into different schools
• What gender inequality existed in the tripartite system?

  Girls needed a higher pass grade than boys
• What does evidence suggest about a child's learning environment?

  It greatly affects educational attainment and success