policies

• Ball- Tripartite System


  As little as 12% of pupils could get grammar school places in some parts of the country, whereas in south Wales, 40% would get grammar school places
• Chitty -In 2011


  There were still 161 grammar schools educating only 5% of secondary school children
• Halsey- 1944-1965 tripartite


  Conducted research suggesting social mobility had stalled following the tripartite system
• Hargreaves and Ball- 1965-1979 comprehensives


  The class divide that appeared between grammar and secondary moderns was reappearing in comprehensives
• Finn- 1979-1997 new vocationalism


  Hidden political agenda to vocational training in this period
• Cohen- new vocationalism


  The purpose of vocational training was to create good attitudes and discipline rather than actual work skills
• Buswell- new vocationalism and gender


  Were structured in a way to reproduce gender inequality, e.g., girls channelled into retail work, hair and beauty
• Ball et al- marketisation


  m/c parents were able to impress at interviews and write convincing letters to encourage admissions
• Tomlinson- new labour criticism


  The middle class gained the most from their policies
• Types of selection


  • Selection by ability (e.g., entrance exams)
  • Selection by aptitude (e.g., talents)
  • Selection by faith (e.g., to Catholic schools)
• Arguments against selection


  • Late developers don't benefit
  • Mixed ability classes foster social cohesion/ banded classes create divisions
  • High achieving students can act as role models to others
• Arguments for selection


  • Allows high achievers to receive total attention from teachers- benefits the
  • Specialised/focus teaching able to take place
• Over subscription policies


  • Priority is given to children in care, pupil premium, siblings, catchment area, faith
• Open enrolment policies


  Parents can apply to any state school in any area, and if the school is undersubscribed then they must take their child
• Over-subscribed schools fill up quickly, so most parents don't get their first choice
• Covert selection


  • Tough and Brooks: backdoor social selection to cherry-pick the best students
  • Low earning parents discouraged from applying due to high uniform prices, hard to understand literature and not advertising in poorer areas
  • Faith schools require a letter from a spiritual leader to gain insight into potential students' family
• Marketisation


  Process whereby serviced like education are pushed towards operating like a business based on supply and demand, students are considered consumers rather than pupils
• Features of marketisation


  • Independence- schools run themselves how they see fit
  • Competition- schools compete for students
  • Choice- gives customers (parents and students) more choice about where they go to school
• Policies promoting marketisation


  • 1979-1997 conservative govt introduced leagues tables, local management schools, funding formula and open enrolment
  • 1997-2010 labour govt introduces business sponsored academies (e.g., co-op schools) and specialist schools
  • 2010-2015 coalition govt introduced new style academies and free schools
• Policies promoting raising standards

  • 1979-1997 conservative govt introduces OFSTED, national curriculum and national testing
  • 1997-2010 labour govt introduces maximum class sizes for 5-7yrs, building schools for the future program, education action zones and business sponsored academies
  • 2010-2015 coalition govt introduces pupil premium, English baccalaureate, national curriculum reform, exams reform and tougher performance targets
• Elements of quality control

  • OFSTED inspection
  • Publication of performance tables e.g., exam results
  • National curriculum- baseline for what is taught
• Evaluation of marketisation policies and raising standards

  • Myth of meritocracy- parents do not have equal freedom to choose what school their child attends due to covert selection process. Middle class parents have much more freedom in choice due to their cultural capital, higher education and income
  • Educational triage- teachers allocate more resources to students on the C/D boarder line to achieve 5 A*-C needed for league tables, ignoring those who are unlikely to achieve this
  • Dumbing down- due to funding formula, schools need to retain and attract students to receive funding. Schools resort to dumbing down in classes where the students may leave if they are pushed too hard or find the courses difficult
  • Reduced quality control- OFSTED is not as independent as it appears with government and politicians interfering with the process by changing standards and goalposts
• Privatisation


  • In education: changing internal processes of a school to be more like a business (e.g., performance related pay)
  • Of education: opening aspects of education to private businesses such as staff training, school finances, school management (academy chains e.g., Haris) and exams
• Evaluation of privatisation of education

  • Positive because: more efficient, more choice for parents, profit making might induce companies to support failing schools
  • Negative because: takes money from the education system, business go out of business leaving schools stranded, less equality
• Policies to reduce class differences

  • Comprehensive school introduction 1960s: aimed to give all students equal opportunity, based on mixed-ability classes, reduced class-based social boundaries. HOWEVER: based on catchment areas, achievement gap between social classes, banding setting and streaming reinforced class divisions
  • Educational action zones: introduced by labour govt in 1998; more money (£1 million) to less privileged areas, booster classes and compensatory education. HOWEVER: failed to compensate for broader society's structural and socio-economic inequalities
  • Sure Start programmes 1999: aimed at pre-school children in disadvantaged areas. Belief that early childhood years were essential for people's development. Undergone through financial assistance, home visits and specialised centres
  • Excellence in Cities programme: aimed to improve standards in low-income area and gradually replaced education action zones. These provided resources, mentors, ICT facilities, and support for at-risk students
  • Aim Higher group: encourage w/c students to look at university and to be inspired; 50% university target
  • Educational maintenance allowance: encouraged students to pursue education post-16
  • Raising leaving age to 18: made sure w/c students were pursuing further education rather than jobs with no further chance for qualification e.g., apprenticeships, BTECS
• Policies to reduce gender differences

  • GIST 1980s (Girls in Science and Technology): scheme encouraged more gender diversity in subject choices, especially girls into science
  • WISE (women in science and engineering) programmes encouraged girls into STEM subjects, aimed at both school and college pupils
• Policies to reduce ethnic differences

  • 1988, idea of multicultural education introduced to create equal educational opportunities for students from different ethnic groups
  • Sewell, 'Generating Genius' programme: took 25 black boys from failing schools and aimed for them to become interested in engineering and science. Boys would spend weeks working with top scientists in the summer. Boys gained GCSE's and continued onto university
• Policies to meet the needs of the economy

  • Conservative govt 1979-1997: introduced new vocational qualifications which gave more work-based learning to generate more workers
  • New Labour govt 1997-2010: raised leaving age from 16 to 18 to create more skilled, qualified workers; introduced vocational GCSE's
  • Coalition govt 2010-2015: created a more challenging curriculum to encourage a more competitive workforce
• Due to statistics from OECD, which had the UK ranked poorly in global league tables
• Globalisation improves educational standards in the UK due to competition between countries