Sociology - Educational policy

*1870 - Introduction of optional mass schooling

Compulsory education was introduced in 1880 for these reasons:

• Britain needed a skilled workforce to compete with other countries such as Germany in the industrial revolution
• The increase the effectiveness of the army - to teach tactics and logic
• Re-socialise the feckless poor
• Reduce street crime
• To stop a revolution
• Human Rights

In 1944 under a coalition government, the Butlers Education act was introduced.This education act meant that:

• Secondary education for all
• Upper classes continued to be educated in public schools and top universities
• Aimed to abolish class based inequalities within education
• Tripartite system was to be introduced
• Three types of school each suited to different abilities

Three kinds of school each designed for different abilities:

• Grammar schools for the academic
• Secondary technical schools for the artistic/creative
• Secondary Modern for everyone else
• The 11+ was a test designed to decide which type of school you would attend
• Parity of esteem - all schools were meant to have similar standard of provision and provide the most suitable education the development of each type of learner

The Tripartite system failed because:

• Its was class biased
• The secondary moderns had a reputation- if you went to them you were stupid
• Parity of esteem was not evident
• Labels
• The 11+ test was culturally biased towards the middle class
• Very few technical schools built
• There were more grammar schools built for boys than there were for girls
• Regional variations - some areas had no nearby grammar schools and some had many

• It was agreed in the mid 1950's that the system was not working
• Most working class children would leave school at 15 and go into work
• Middle class children continued into further education and university
• 20% went to grammar schools
• 5% went to technical schools
• 75% went to secondary moderns
• The system failed three quarters of school children so lots of wasted talent
• Many middle class parents wanted to keep the system
• In an attempt to apply the principle of equality of opportunity for all, the system was abolished

• 1965 - Labour government instructed all LEAs to submit plans for comprehensive re-organisation
• Comprehensive - educated all children under one roof
• Aim to promote both social justice and social equality
• Labour government also expanded higher education provision
• All aimed at increasing working class access to higher education

• The school leaving age raised to 16 in 1972
• All pupils had to sit exams
• Mixed ability teaching experimented with to enable pupils to achieve their maximum potential

• Conservative government came into power with Margaret Thatcher becoming Prime Minister. Teachers were never to have the freedom to exercise their professional autonomy again
• She abolished free school milk and became known as Thatcher the Milk Snatcher

• Emphasis on preparing young people for work and industry - YTS, work experience in schools, new vocationalism
• Assisted Places Scheme - Bright working class children, free places in public schools if they passed the school entrance test
• Centralisation - Power taken from LEAs and back to central government

• Assisted Places Scheme expanded
• National Curriculum - same subject contact at varius key stages from age 7 - 16 in Maths, English , Science, History, Geography, Technology, Music, Art, PE and modern languages.
• SATs implemented
• League tables introduced
• Marketization
• OFSTED
• City technical colleges to be introduced - co-funded by business would provided special opportunities for pupils in inner-city areas

• Took most conservative initiatives forward to Curriculum 2000
• Curriculum 2000 - mixing of vocation and academic subjects became possible
• Introduction of AS and A2 in further education
• Integrating these has largely failed to materialise
• Abolished HE grants - Top up fees introduced
• Renamed grant maintained schools to foundation schools - still had control over how to recruit pupils even though funding stopped coming to them directly from central government
• EMA introduced

• Specialist school status encouraged
• City academies to be established to provide high quality education for all age groups in deprived inner-city areas.
• Now being expanded to deprived rural areas
• Increased use of banding and streaming
• Emphasis on coherency system for 14 - 19 education - unified qualifications network.

• A single diploma framework with four levels of qualification (entry, foundation, intermediate and advance)
• Increased stretch for the best (raising standards), participation for all
• Less (but more rigorous) assessment
• Aspiration to parity between vocation and academic programmes
• Learning at your own pace - levels will be divorced form age
• Work experience will be a key component
• More detail will be available to HE/employers on learning outcomes