selection by the 11+ exam separating people into grammar schools or secondary modern schools.
most middle class pupils passed the exam & went to grammar schools (academic curriculum) whislt most wokring class failed & went to secondary modern schools (practical curriculm).
Comprehensive system:
all pupils attended the same local comprehensive school.
Functionalists see these schools as meritocratic as they give pupils longer to develop by not selecting at 11, and as promoting integration by bringing all social classes together.
Marxists see them as reproducing inequality through streaming & labelling, and as legitimating inequality by the 'myth of meritocracy'.
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Marketisation Policies
The Reproduction of Inequality:
league tables allows schools with the best results to choose the best pupils whilst less successful schools end up with less able pupils.
the funding formula - schools are funded on how many pupils they recruit, so good schools get more funding to improve staffing/ facilities & attract more pupils.
parental choice - Gewirtz identifies middle-class privileged-skilled choosers with the economic & cultural capital to take advantage of the system; working class disconnected-local choosers who lack capital & have to settle for the nearest school; and ambitious working-class semi-skilled choosers frustrated by their inability to get the school they wanted.
the myth of parentocracy - marketisation legitimates inequality by making it look as if all parents are equally free to choose a good school.
New Labour Policies (1997-2010) - maintained marketisation but also introduced policies to reduce inequalities e.g. city academies, Education Action Zones, Aim Higher programmes in disadvantaged areas, Education Maintenance Allowances, and increased spending on state education.
Evaluation:
Policies are contradictory - EMAs help poorer pupils stay on post-16, but now have to pay university tuition fees.
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Conservative Policies since 2010
Neoliberalism and Privatisation:
academies - funded by central government, part of privately-owned chains; removing academies from local authority control means loss of democratic accountability.
free schools - state-funded, set up/ run by parents, teachers, religious group, businesses.
fragmented centralisation - Ball argues we no longer have a comprehensive system as greater inequality; education more centralised as become academies & free schools.
spending cuts - major cuts e.g. Sure Start, EMA, university fees etc.
Privatisation of Education:
education is a privatised commodity (Ball) as profit source for capitalists.
blurring the public/private boundary - many senor public sector employees move into private sector education businesses bringing 'insider knowledge' to win contracts.
globalisation of policy - forein owned, work overseas, privatising & exporting UK education.
cola-isation of schools - develops brand loyalty through logos, sponsorships & vouchers.
Ethnicity and Policy - in the 1960s & 70s the aim was to encourage assimilation; 1980s & 90s, aim was to value all cultures through multicultural education; more recently focus has been on social inclusion.
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