educational policy & inequality

• definition of marketisation:

  • introducing market forces within education
  • the process whereby schools and colleges become more independent, compete with one another for students and become subject to the free market forces of supply and demand, based on competition and parental choice.
• formula funding:

  • popular schools get more funding - better resources, teachers that attracts MC students the school can ensure their table position is good.
  • unpopular school gets less funding - poorer resources, teachers, must take all pupils and have their league table position suffer.
• Marketisation

  • introduced in 1988 by Education Reform Act
  • conservative government - Margaret Thatcher - made marketisation central to education policy.
  • 2010 coalition government - took it further with academies and free schools
  • new right and neoliberals - favour marketised education as schools have to compete to attract parents, schools will give in to parents, they need to enrol more students.
• NEW LABOUR & INEQUALITY: MARKETISATION

  • New Labour from 1997-2010 made policies aiming to reduce educational inequality.
  • EDUCATION ACTION ZONES - provided more resources to deprived areas.
  • AIM HIGHER PROGRAMME - raise aspirations of groups who aren't represented in higher education.
  • EDUCATION MAINTENANCE ALLOWANCE - payments to low-income students to encourage qualifications after 16.
  • BENN (2012) - NEW LABOUR PARADOX - choosing marketisation even though causes inequality, then make more policies to tackle inequality. eg. EMA introduced alongside increased tuition fees.
• FREE SCHOOLS

  • funded by the state, but set up by parents, teachers, faith organisations, instead of local authorities.
  • free schools say they improve education standards by taking control away from state and giving it to parents who can create a new school if they're unhappy with the one in the area
• 2010 CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT POLICIES

  • Coalition (2010-15) and Conservative (2015+) started moving away from a comprehensive education system run by local authorities.
  • policies are influenced by new right ideas - REDUCING THE STATE'S ROLE IN EDUCATION VIA MARKETISATION AND PRIVATISATION.
• ACADEMIES

  • 2010 - schools encouraged to leave local authority control by becoming academies. the government takes local authority funding and gives it directly to academies, and gives them control over the curriculum.
  • Labour's original academies addressed disadvantaged schools, but the Coalitions let any school become an academy - taking the focus of reducing inequality.
• POLICIES TO REDUCE INEQUALITY - 2010 CONSERVATIVE GOVERNMENT

  • FSM - for all pupils in reception
  • Pupil Premium - money schools get for every pupil from a disadvantaged background.
  • CRITICISM = OFSTED (2012) found pupil premium isn't spent on those it's meant to help. only 1/10 headteacher said it made a difference.
  • Cutting of Sure Start & EMA has reduced WC pupil's opportunities.
• DEFINITION OF PRIVATISATION

  • transfer of public assets like schools to private companies. Over the years, education in the UK has become privatised.
  • BALL - education becomes a source of profit in EDUCATION SERVICE INDUSTRY (ESI).
  • Private companies in the ESI are involved in activities like: building schools, providing supply teachers, Ousted, career advice.
  • BALL (2007) - all very profitable, contracts for designing/building/financing educational services can make 10x as much as other contracts.
• BLURRING THE PUBLIC/PRIVATE BOUNDARY

  • Many senior officials like headteachers leave to work for private sector educational businesses.
  • companies then bid for contracts to provide schools/local authorities with services, like school inspections.
  • POLLACK (2004) - this flow of personnel means companies can buy 'insider knowledge' to help them win contracts.
• PRIVATISATION & GLOBALISATION OF EDUCATIONAL POLICY

  • Private companies in education service are often foreign like edexcel being owned by Pearson in the US.
  • BUCKINGHAM & SCANLON (2005) - UK's 4 leading educational software companies are owned by global multinationals. Original companies sell educational contracts on to investment funds.
  • meaning nation-states are less important in policymaking which is becoming more global and privatised.