Topic 6 - educational policy and inequality

• the tripartite system


  1944 Education Act brought in the 11+ exam, which sent students to one of three types of school: Grammar, Secondary Modern, and Secondary Technical
• comprehensive school system


  1965 onwards. Replaced grammar and secondary modern with comprehensives for all pupils. However, choice of local authority so grammars still exist
• functionalist view of comprehensive schools

  meritocratic and social integration
• Marxist perspective of comprehensive schools


  produces inequality based on streaming and labelling
• 2010 conservatives


  Liberal Democrat coalition gov created academies and free schools.
• David's parentocracy


  marketisation means that education policies are ruled by parents in order to gain students
• policies promoting marketisation


  -publication of league tables and Ofsted reports

  -specialist schools

  -academies

  -tuition fees for higher education

  -Free schools
• Will Bartlett and league tables


  League tables encourage:

  -cream-skimming = 'good' schools can be more selective and recruit high achieving MC pupils

  -silt-shifting = 'good' schools can avoid taking less able pupils in order to avoid damaging their league table position
• Study of Institute for Public Policy Research (2012)


  found that competition-orientated education systems produced more social class segregation
• Gewirtz: parental choice study


  Study of 14 London secondary schools identified 3 types of parents:

  -privileged-skilled choosers

  -disconnected-local choosers

  -semi-skimmed choosers
• Ball's myth of parentocracy


  seems based on parents choice but in reality MC parents take advantage of available choices and can move into catchment areas for good schools while WC can't
• When was Education Maintenance Allowance canceled?


  2010 - New Labour government
• Academies


  In 2022 accounted for 80% secondary schools
• Free schools


  Schools set up by charities, teachers and businesses or parents but funded by the state. They were introduced by the coalition government after 2010.
• Free schools and class inequality

  In 2011, only 6.4% of pupils from Bristol Free School were eligible for FSM compared to 22.5% of pupils altogether in the city
• Ball's fragmentation and centralisation of control resulting from academies and free schools


  fragmentation - comprehensive system replaced by private providers = inequality in opportuities

  centralisation of control - central gov has power over schools becoming academies and free schools, reducing role of local authorities
• Policies to reduce inequality

  FSMs

  Pupil premium ( money that schools get for each pupil from disadvantaged background)
• privatisation of education


  Schools moving to private companies

  educations become a source of profit
• globalisation of education


  Many contracts for UK services sold by overseas companies such as Edexcel and Pearsons. Many UK policies spread to other countries such as Ofsted
• Cola-isation of schools


  Private companies involved in schools e.g. vending machines or catering. Education becoming a profit making commodity
• Stuart Hall


  views academies as handing over public services to private capitalists, turning education into a source of private profit
• policies on gender

  under the tripartite system, girls often had to achieve a higher mark than boys in 11+ to go to a grammar school

  Since 1970s, policies such as GIST attempt to reduce gendered subjects
• assimilation in education


  1960s and 70s focus on assimilating ethnic minorities to raise achievement. However, critics say poverty and racism cause the underachievement
• multicultural education


  1980s and 90s aimed to raise minority's self esteem and achievement. However, failed to tackle institutional racism
• social inclusion


  late 1990s monitoring exam results by ethnicity, placing a legal duty on schools to promote equality
• Gillborn


  ethnocentric curriculum and streaming still disadvantages ethnic minority pupils