Educational policies

• Before 18th century there was no state schools. Education available to minority and fee paying. Industrialisation increased the need for an educated workforce.

  1880- schooling compulsory for 5-13
• Schooling based on class.

  WC: equipped with basic numeracy and literacy skills.

  MC: given academic curriculum.
• Selection: tripartite system.

  1944- education influenced by meritocracy than success from birth.

  1944 EDUCATION ACT bought the tripartite system because children were selected and allocated to different types of secondary schools through the 11+ exam.
• Grammar schools: academic curriculum, access to non manual jobs with higher education. Mainly middle class.

  secondary modern schools: non academic practical curriculum. Working class that failed eleven plus.
• Gender and class inequality reinforced through tripartite system.

  girls had to gain higher marks than males to get into grammar schools.
• Comprehensive school system: made to overcome tripartite system and make education more meritocratic. All pupils would attend in the area.

  grammar schools left were up to local education authority.
• Two theories of the role of comprehensives:

  • FUNCTIONALISTS: comprehensive schools promote social integration by bringing children of all different social classes together. Comprehensive system is more meritocratic, pupils have long time to develop skills and show abilities.
• Ford- little social mixing between WC AND MC pupils due to streaming.
• Marketisation: process of introducing market forces of consumer choice and competition between suppliers into education.

  education market:

  • reducing direct state control over education.
  • increasing competition between schools and parental choice of school.
• Education reform act 1988- marketisation central theme of government education policy. (Gov of Margaret thatcher)
• Conservative liberal democrat coalition government- created academies and free schools.
• Parentocracy (parental choice upon educational institutes.)

  policies to promote marketisation:

  • publication of league tables - gives parents info they need to use right schools.
  • business sponsorship of schools.
  • open enrolment.
  • specialist schools.
  • formula funding- same amount of funding for each pupil.
  • schools can become academies.
  • introduction of tuition fees for higher education.
  • allowing parents and others to set up free schools.
• David- marketised education as parentocracy, power shifts from producers (teachers/ schools) to consumers. ( parents) this encourages diversity among schools, parents more choices and raised standards.
• Ball and Whitty- marketisation policies eg exam league tables and funding formula reproduce class inequalities by creating inequalities between schools.
• Bartlett- parents attracted to good league tables ranking encourages:

  • cream skimming- good schools are more selective and choose their own customers and recruit high achieving middle class pupils.
  • silt shifting- good schools avoid taking less able pupils who are likely to get poor results and damage schools league table position.
• Funding formula: schools are allowed funds by a formula on how many pupils they get and good exam scores, school gets more funding for better facilities and teachers.
• Gewirtz- parental choice

  increasing parental choice= favours middle class parents who’s economic and cultural capital puts them in a better position to choose schools.

  PRIVILEGED SKILLED CHOOSERS- MC parents used economic and cultural capital to gain educational capital for children. Understood how admissions work and researched.

  DISCONNECTED LOCAL CHOOSERS: WC parents whose choices were restricted by lack of economic and cultural capital.
• SEMI SKILLED CHOOSERS: parents were mainly wc and had a low level of education but were ambitious for their child. They lacked cultural capital and often relied on other people’s opinions on schools.
• myth of parentocracy- marketisation reproduces inequality it also legitimates it by concealing its true causes and justifying its existence. The education system makes it seem as if parents have a free choice of school.
• Ball argues parentocracy is a myth not a reality. It. Ales it appear that all parents have the same freedom to choose which school to send their children to.
• New labour and inequality: new labour governments 1997-2010 introduced a number of policies to reduce inequality.

  • education action zones in deprived areas and offer resources.
  • education maintenance allowances- payments for students from low income backgrounds to encourage them to stay after 16
  • aim higher programme for underrepresented groups.
  • NATIONAL LITERACY STRATEGY- reducing primary school class sizes.
  • city academies
  • increased funding for state schools
• Benn- contradiction between labour policies to tackle inequalities and its commitment to marketisation- ‘New labour paradox.’
• COALITION GOVERNEMNT POLICIES FROM 2010: encourage excellence, competition and innovation.


  ACADEMIES: 2010 schools left authority control and became academies, own control over curriculum. FREE SCHOOLS: set up and run by teachers, parents, organisations, businesses than authority.
• ALLEN- research from sweden where 20% are free schools shows that it only benefits children from highly educated families.
• Fragmented centralisation: BALL

  fragmentation: comprehensive system is replaced by patchwork of diverse provisions, private providers and leads to inequality. TASKS BROKEN INTO PARTS.

  centralisation of control: has the power to allow schools to become academies or free schools.
• COALITION POLICIES AND INEQUALITY: POLICIES TO reduce inequality.

  • free school meals.
  • the pupil premium
• OFSTED states that pupil premium isn't spent on those who need it, 1 in 10 headteachers said it had significantly supported people-from disadvantaged backgrounds.
• PRIVATISATION OF EDUCATION- transfer of public assets such as schools to private companies, private companies are involved in education service industry, to increase range of activities.
• BALL: companies involved in such work expect to make up to ten times profit as they do on other profits. Local authorities obliged to join agreements for money due to lack of funding for schools.
• blurring public/ private boundary: headteachers leave to set up or work for private sector education businesses. These companies then bid for contracts to provide services to schools.

  POLLACK- flow of personnel companies allow companies to buy insider knowledge to help win contracts.
• privatisation and globalisation of education policy: private companies in the education service are foreign owned. EDEXCEL is owned by US.
• BUCKINGHAM AND SCANLON: uk's four leading educational software companies are owned by global multinationals eg disney.
• private companies are exporting UK education policy to other countries, then providing services to deliver the policies.
• COLA-ISATION OF SCHOOLS: private sector involved in education indirectly through vending machines, brand loyalty and logos.
• MOLNAR- schools are targeted by private companies because schools by their nature carry enormous goodwill. Aka, product endorsement.
• Limited benefits of private sector in education.

  BEDER: UK families spend £110k just for a single computer.

  BALL: cadbury's [orts equipment required students to eat 5,440 bars.
• EDUCATION AS A COMMODITY: BALL-

  privatisation is becoming the key factor in shaping educational commodity., education is turning into legitimate object of private profit making.
• HALL- (marxist)- part of coalition government policies such as 'long march of the neoliberalism revolution' ACADEMIES handing over public services to private capitalists eg educational businesses. Privatisation and competition is a myth to legitimate the turning of education into a source of profit.
• POLICIES ON GENDER AND ETHNICITY:

  Gender: 19th century, females largely excluded from education. 1970's policies introduced GIST to reduce gender differences.
• ETHNICITY POLICIES:

  • ASSIMILATION- 1960's focused on minority ethnic groups to assimilate ( take in) mainstream British culture to raise achievements. Critiques say real cause of underachievement is racism.
  • MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION: 1980's- aimed to promote achievements of minority group by valuing all cultures.