Policies

• 1944 Education Act


  Tripartite system - reproduced class inequality
• Components of tripartite system

  Grammar schools - mainly middle class

  Secondary modern schools - mainly working class

  Technical schools
• 1965 Comprehensive School System


  11+ to be abolished

  Aimed to overcome class divide
• Functionalists on comprehensive school system

  Promote social integration

  Meritocratic
• Marxists on comprehensive school system

  Reproduce class inequality

  'Myth of meritocracy
• Academies - conservative government polices 2010


  Funding taken from authorities and given directly to academy - control over curriculum
• Free schools - conservative government polices 2010


  Funded directly from state

  Set up and run by parents rather than local authority
• Polices to reduce inequality - conservative government polices 2010


  Free schools meals

  Pupil premium - ofsted found pp Monet not spent on those it was supposed to help
• Different types of schools according to Ball - conservative government polices 2010

  Fragmentation

  Centralisation of control
• Fragmentation


  Greater inequalities in opportunities
• Centralisation of control


  Rapid growth of academies reduced role of authorities
• What is meant by 'education as a commodity'

  Commodity - raw material that can be bought or sold

  Turns students into consumers
• Globalisation of education


  Many private companies in education are foreign eg exam boards
• Cola-isation of schools


  Ball

  Large companies influence those in education from an early age eg vending machines
• 3 types of parents according to Gewirtz

  Privileged-skilled choosers

  Disconnected-local choosers

  Semi skilled choosers
• Privileged-skilled choosers


  Middle class who use cultural capital to get ahead
• Disconnected-local choosers


  Working class parents whose choices were restricted by their lack of economic and cultural capital
• Semi skilled choosers


  Mainly working-class, but ambitious for their children.
• New Labour government policies

  Education action zones

  Aim higher program

  Education maintenance allowance
• Education action zones (EAZ)


  Giving more funding to deprived areas
• The Aim Higher Programme

  To raise aspirations of groups who are under-represented in higher education
• Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA)


  Payments to students from low-income backgrounds to encourage them to stay on after 16 to gain better qualifications
• David


  Parentocracy - parents choose which school child attends
• Funding formula


  Popular schools get more funds - better facilities
• League tables - marketisation

  Cream skimming - 'good' schools can be more selective

  Silt shifting - 'good' schools avoid taking less able students