Education

• The Foster's Education Act (1870) introduced mass elementary education across the UK.
• In 1880 education became compulsory and free.
• In 1918 compulsory education was introduced for all children aged 5-14
• The Butler Act(1944) introduced tripartite system.
• In 1965 the Labour Government replaced the tripartite system with comprehensive education.
• Educational Priority Areas were set up in 1967
• The school leaving age was moved to 16 in 1972.
• Between 1944-1978 the main goal of education was for equal opportunity. This was based on the idea of meritocracy and that all students should be judged based purely on ability. Sociologists are concerned with if policy has tackled the previous inequity.
• The Tripartite System allocated students into 3 school systems.
• Grammar schools was for those who were deemed academic and passed the 11+. However schools would accept students whose parents were able to pay for acceptance.
• Technical Schools were for those on the cusp of the pass line for the 11+ and those deemed scientific or creative.
• Secondary Modern Schools accepted students who had failed and were deemed non-academic.
• Educational Priority Zones(EPA's) were set up in deprived areas in order to help improve equality. Extra resources and funding was given to improve attainment and to encourage parental involvement.
• EPA's were intended to compensate poverty by combating material and cultural deprivation. Douglas believed that poor parents were less likly to be involved in their child's education.
• EPA's were abandoned as sociologists such as as Bernstein believed schools couldn't compensate for society.
• A problem with the tripartite system is that many technical schools weren't built therefore had failed and was bipartite.
• Grammar Schools were dominated by middle class students as they were more likely to pass the 11+ exam
• Working class students dominated secondary modern schools.
• THE 11+ exam IQ can be accused of not being culture-fair. It favored those with access to economic and culture capital. Others were penalized.
• Leavers of secondary modern left with certificate and were seen as less by employers and peers.
• Labour abolished the tripartite system and introduced the comprehensive system. Children in the same area would all go to the same school. This was intended to be more meritocratic.
• Functionalists believe that the comprehensive promotes social integration and solidarity alongside meritocracy. The system brings people from different backgrounds and abilities together.
• Marxists believe that the comprehensive system promotes the myth of meritocracy and streaming within schools benefits the middle class and the lower class still end up in the lower sets with fewer qualifications.
• New Right believe that inner-city comprehensive schools will suffer truancy and have poorer teaching standards.
• Liberal Feminists believe that comprehensive schools have aimed to reduced gender inequality in education and stereotyping. As a result girls are now more likely to achieve higher grades than boys.
• Radical Feminists believe that comprehensive schools still promote patriarchy and give power to those who can enforce it. This can be seen by girls being funneled into certain subjects.
• Catchment areas may cause schools in certain areas to be dominated by a certain group of people. This is due to people usually in urban areas living among those similar. Inner-city schools may be filled with working-class students whereas rural areas dominated by middle-class students.
• A consequence of catchment area determining who attends is that if the school is in a poor area, the parents of the students may not be able to educationally support their children. This as a result can cause the school to be labelled as failing.
• The price of houses around a school and effect who attends. Houses around school seen as good can raise their prices. Working class parents will be unable to afford to buy a house near a good school and would fall out of catchment. Middle class parents being able to afford these houses is according to Gewirtz is an example of economic and cultural capital
• Comprehensive Schools work as they allow working class students the chance to achieve the same qualifications as the middle class
• Due to comprehensive schools more working class children are able to enter higher education.
• The range of qualifications and courses allows for less academic students to do better.
• Exam results of comprehensive schools compare well to those of private schools.
• Hargreaves and Ball both found the ideal of comprehensive schools is undermined by the fact that setting and streaming is typically based on class or willingness to conform to middle class ideals
• Comprehensive Schools cant help fully as not all local goverments have changed.
• Research shows that rural areas still do better than urban schools. This reproduces class inequity.
• Education Policies in 1970-1988 were focused on marketisation and parentocracy.
• The Conservative Goverment under Maraget Thatcher introduced vocational courses.
• Marketisation suggested that schools should be ran alike a business rather than as a school. Branding of schools became vital to helping attract parents. An example of this branding could be bottles with school name on. This would begin to make schools compete
• In the 80's marketisation policies were introduced (SHOPN) School league tables were introduced to be able to compare schools. His Majesty OFSTED was introduced to monitor schools. Open days were introduced to allow parents to see schools and for them to advertise to parents. This was to improve parentocracy and choice. A national curriculum was introduced to ensure all children received same level of education.