Education

• academy schools: independent state funded schools which receive funding directly from the government
• Grammar Schools- are state Secondary schools that are free to attend but select their pupils by means of an examination taken by children at age II, known as the "Il-plus"
• Special schools- schools catering to the needs of students with disabilities
• Comprehensive schools- a state Secondary school that does not select pupils on the basis of their ability
• Independent schools- private: schools that charge fees to attend instead of being funded by the government
• Faith schools- a school intended for a particular religion
• Free schools- set up by an organisation or group of individuals funded by the goverment, but not controlled by the local authority
• . The national curriculum refers to the subjects that must be taught in all local-authority-maintained Schools
• . Catchment area: the allocated area surrounding school accepts applicants from. The closer a student lives, the more likely they're are to get in
• Parsons (functionalist)

  Role allocation (1)

  Schools and other educational institutions are responsible for preparing people and sorting them for their future roles in society.

  It allocates people to appropriate jobs based on how well they do academically and their talents. They are responsible for identifying the most qualified people for the top positions in society.
• Parsons (functionalist)

  Meritocracy (2)

  describes a society whereby jobs and pay are allocated based on an individual's talent and achievements rather than social status. Therefore, individuals that work hard will be rewarded in society

  Instead of people holding positions in society based on what their parents did and being born into a high or low status (ascribed status) people, through their efforts and their abilities, attain achieved status.
• Parsons (functionalism)

  Acts like a bridge (3)

  belief that the education system acts as a bridge between the family and wider society, detaching children from their primary caregivers and family and training them to accept and successfully fit into their social roles
• Durkheim (functionalist)

  Social Solidarity (1)

  ensures that everyone is brought together through as shared Set of norms and values- this creates a sense of belonging as the individual sees themselves as a part of a wider community instead of focusing on their own selfish aims

  the formal & hidden curriculum

  done through
• Durkheim (functionalist)

  Society in miniature (2)

  prepares us for the wider community so we know how to cooperate with people who aren't family and friends, they set a guideline for our interactions

  Skills for work (3)

  education teaches knowledge necessary for work in modern, technical and industrial society through vocational courses that aim to reflect the world of work. Prepares them by teaching special skills.
• Durkheim (functionalist)

  Role and Punishment (4)

  Must regulate people's behaviour as schools are agents of social control- they contain behavior through rules and sanctions in the form of a hidden curriculum. Durkheim believed that punishments should reflect the seriousness of the damage done to the wider society. This will lead to self dispilne and social order
• Correspondence Principles - Bowles and Gintis

  (1)

  Obedience to authority and rules, accept the hierarchy, and not to question authority →benefits capitalism as they will remain as passive works who never question the exploitation they facing, it benefits capitalism and keeps it running
• Correspondence Principles - Bowles and Gintis

  Extrinsic rewards (2)

  taught that they should be motivated by external rewards in the form of exam results & good grades rather than enjoying subject matter and gaining satisfaction from learning work is most likely to be repetitive and not intrinsically satisfying therefore motivation comes from pay & bonuses. Workers will work harder for the rewards.
• Correspondence Principles - Bowles and

  Competition (3)

  learn to compete in school through grades in the work play they're competitive with pay & promotion, produce a motivated workforce that continues capitalism

  Fragmented learning (4)

  school is covered in fragments, a few connections made between subjects- knowledge is broke downjobs and tasks are specific and separated between workers, they're denied knowledge of the overall picture but they're used to this and will never question it
• Correspondence Principles - Bowles and Gintis

  Preventing creativity (5)

  rewards for students who display the characteristics of being hardworking, Submissive and obedient creative students are seen as lower and tend to to get low grades produces

  unimaginative and unquestioning work force
• Feminism:

  believes that society operates based on patriarchal ideology; a set of beliefs based on the "natural" law role of gender which maintains men's dominance over women in all spheres of life.

  Feminists believe that the role of education is to socialise young people into a set of norms and values, however, they teach gender inequalities and patriarchal values through the hidden curriculum
• Feminism:

  Textbooks

  Heaton & Lawson: hidden curriculum taught patriarchal values as they noted traditional family structures existed in textbooks- teaching ideas of male dominance and superiority

  → Deem: belies that most subjects have male bias in textbooks- History (His Story) is male history, ignoring the female contributions
• feminism:

  Domination of Space

  Francis: boys dominate classroom and attract more attention (positive and negative) they're noisier and till leads to more teacher interaction. She found that boys also dominate the playing areas with fast paced physical play- girls are therefore ignored and not at the forefront of the

  school
• Feminism:

  Evidence Gendered Subjects (1)

  →Kelly: argues that subjects are thought to be presented as more suitable to one gender. Eg: sciences are set up to be more appealing to boys. The hidden curriculum implies that physics, engineering, and so on are more suitable for boys whereas languages, food, childcare ect is for girls. - this leads them towards low-paying jobs like health and social care leads to nursing which is underfunded.
• Feminism:

  Evidence Gendered Subjects (2)

  → Murphy and Elwood: argue that children learn their gender roles within the home, this relates to how parents treat them and the expectations they hold. This leads the child to associate themselves with certain subjects later on.
• Feminism:

  Social Control

  → Lees: double standards for morality existed- girls who were sexually promiscuous or overly flirty were looked down upon but with boys, they were praised.

  Spender: Suggested that schools reinforced gender inequalities. Boys received more teacher attention, whereas girls appeared to be "invisible" For example- boys got away with boisterous behaviour, questioning and challenging their teacher, however for girls that was seen as "unladylike"
• The 1944 Education (Butler) Act introduced the tripartite system, aiming to provide equal opportunities for all students in free, state-run education. It raised compulsory education to 15 years and introduced a meritocratic system based on academic ability, with children attending three types of schools.
• The tripartite system: children's ability was tested at the age of 11 years by the Il-plus exam. Based on the results of this exam they went to one of three types of schools, each of which was designed to meet their needs
• 1965 Comprehensive Schooling:

  • Comprehensive schools were introduced in response to what some saw as the failings of the tripartite system which often simply reflected social class backgrounds, i.e., upper- and middle-class students attended grammar schools which were accessible due to academic privileges.

  →The focus was on equality of opportunity providing people the opportunity to compete on equal terms on a level playing field

  This means that everyone has the same chance of developing and earning the best qualifications by giving everyone the same access to education.
• Strengths of tripartite system:

  • social background didn't have an affect, people from lower class gad a chance at social mobility, could access recourses and learning opportunities
  • 11+ failures were pooled together and went to secondary modern schools and this gave them a suitable environment where they were taught based off of their needs
• weakness of tripartite system:

  • meritocracy is a myth: those with material and cultural advantages were more likely to pass the 11+ exam
  • those who failed were labelled as failures= self fulfilling prophecy resulting to some leaving school with no qualifications and developing low self esteem
• STRENGTHS OF COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLING

  • Social barriers between students of different backgrounds are broken down as children of all abilities mix in these schools
  • There is no entrance exam, no child is labelled as a 'failure' as these schools cater for children of all abilities
  • Each school has a specific catchment area from which students are drawn, establishing the principle of local schools enrolling local children of all abilities and providing with the same opportunities
• WEAKNESSES OF COMPREHENSIVE SCHOOLING

  • In mixed ability schooling, more academically able students are held back by the less able

  • Comprehensive schools limit parental choice as each student is expected to go to the nearest school in the area regardless of how good or bad that school's reputation is

  • Comprehensive schools are accepting of lower standards because they have a mixture of students from a range of social classes with different values and attitudes

  • Comprehensive schools are not really mixed social class as they are based on the local neighbourhood
• Comprehensive Schooling Now:

  Most schools in the UK are still comprehensive. Comprehensive schools provide an entitlement curriculum to all children, without selection whether due to financial considerations or attainment.
• From 1975-1980s, New Vocationalism focused on vocational education for 14-18 year olds, aiming to equip them with industry-specific skills. The Conservative government blamed high youth unemployment in the early 1980s on inadequate employment skills among school leavers.
• STRENGTHS OF NEW VOCATIONALISM

  • These changes will lead to a more skilled. better-qualified workforce that will allow society to be more competitive

  • This development reflets the importance of the Functionalist and New Right views that education system has to provide the skills and expertise needed by industry and economy in the modern world far more effectively than it used to
• WEAKNESSES OF NEW VOCATIONALISM

  • Marxists argue that vocational education is viewed as lower status compared to purely academic qualifications and that it is aimed at working class children to prepare them to be workers in a capitalist society
  • Vocational qualifications are also seen as being similar to ideas of the tripartite system, in that students who are not seen as academic are considered failures and are pushed into what seen as lower status vocational training
• 1988 Education Reform Act brought in by the Conservative government- introduced many changes that are still fundamental to the contemporary education system.

  Marketisation of Education:

  Marketisation introduces market forces like customer choice and competition into the education system, where schools operate like private businesses, striving to attract parents and children. This competition drives schools to improve standards and meet consumer demands.
• 1944 Butler Education Act

  The 1944 Education (Butler) Act introduced the tripartite system. The aim was to give all students an equal chance to develop their talents and abilities in a system of free, state-run education- raising the age of compulsory education to 15 years.

  . The government wanted to introduce a meritocratic system where children would receive an education based

  on their academic ability, rather than on the ability of their parents to pay for schooling.
• Policies/features to support marketisation of education:

  National Curriculum (1)

  Made of compulsory core subjects which all students 5-16 must study measures students' performance against national targets so parents and schools can be informed on students performance (aim to get above averages → better education)

  • Competition: parents get more info, and students are working harder to get beyond the average
• Policies/features to support marketisation of education:

  Formula Funding (2)

  amount of money received from the government for schools based on student enrolment, the more funding the better facilities - Supply Demands: working extra hard to attract pupils, and when this happens they get more funding and will be able to give the people what they want