Assess the impact of educational policies on equality in relation to social class.
OCR
A Level
2019
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Assessing the Impact of Educational Policies on Social Class Equality
This essay will assess the impact of educational policies on equality in relation to social class. It will explore both positive and negative impacts, drawing on sociological perspectives and specific policy examples.
AO1: Knowledge and Understanding
This section will outline various educational policies and their intended effects on social class inequality.
Policies Aiming to Reduce Social Class Inequality
1. Conservative Government (1980s-1990s):
- New Vocationalism: YTS (Youth Training Scheme) aimed to provide training with an employer alongside formal education, equipping working-class youth with skills required by industry.
- NVQs (National Vocational Qualifications): Assessed on competencies and skills in workplace settings, targeting working-class students in fields like engineering and hairdressing.
- GNVQs (General National Vocational Qualifications): A blend of academic and vocational skills, aimed to raise the status of vocational qualifications.
- Marketisation: Policies promoting diversity and choice, such as the 1988 Education Reform Act (ERA), aimed to raise standards for all pupils by introducing parental choice, open enrolment, and league tables.
2. New Labour Government (Late 1990s-2000s):
- Compensatory Education: Initiatives like Sure Start (1999) provided support for parents of pre-school children in disadvantaged areas.
- Educational Action Zones (EAZs) and Excellence in Cities (EiC): Increased funding in inner-city areas to boost attainment for low-income students.
- Academies: Established to replace 'failing' comprehensives in deprived areas.
- EMA (Education Maintenance Allowance): Weekly cash allowances for low-income students to remain in post-16 education.
- Widening Participation in Higher Education: Policies aimed at closing the class gap in higher education participation.
- New Deal for Young People: Aimed to help unemployed youth enter the workforce.
3. Coalition Government (2010-2015):
- Pupil Premium: Additional funding for schools for every child eligible for free school meals.
- Expansion of Academies: Francis et al (2014) found that sponsored academies showed greater improvement in GCSE results for disadvantaged children.
Policies With Potentially Negative Impacts:
- Vocational Policies: Critics argue that YTS offered second-class training and cheap labour (Dan Finn, 1987).
- GNVQs: Not perceived as equivalent to GCSEs and A-levels.
- Marketisation: Parental choice heavily reliant on social, cultural, and economic capital (Bourdieu, Ball, Tomlinson, Gewirtz, 1995).
- Widening Participation in HE: Despite increased places, tuition fees and the cost of HE have restricted access for poorer students.
- Academies and Specialist Schools: Middle-class parents manipulate the system to benefit their children, leaving 'sink' schools in deprived areas (Ball, 2008).
- Compensatory Education: Marxists view such schemes as ideological window dressing, and the Coalition government closed many Sure Start centers.
- EMA: Scrapped in England, leading to a decline in the proportion of 16-18 year-olds staying in full-time education (Ball).
- Tuition Fee Increases (2012): Fear of debt discouraged many from applying to university (Independent Commission on Fees, 2012).
AO2: Application
This section will demonstrate how the selected knowledge directly relates to the impact of educational policies on social class inequality.
- Positive Impacts: Policies like Sure Start, EAZs, and the Pupil Premium aimed to address the material and cultural disadvantages faced by working-class students.
- Negative Impacts: Marketisation policies created a system where middle-class families with greater resources could benefit from increased choice and competition, while working-class families faced less favorable options.
- Mixed Impacts: The expansion of academies and the introduction of NVQs aimed to offer alternative pathways for working-class students, but critics argue that they often failed to provide equal opportunities.
AO3: Analysis and Evaluation
This section will critically analyze the effectiveness of educational policies in addressing social class inequality, considering both positive and negative perspectives.
Arguments for Positive Impact:
- Increased Qualifications: Policies like the 1988 ERA led to an increase in the proportion of school leavers gaining qualifications, including working-class pupils.
- Improved Attainment: EAZs and EiC initiatives showed significant improvement in attainment for low-income students.
- Greater Access to Higher Education: While tuition fees have presented challenges, participation rates for poorer students have increased compared to the past.
Arguments Against Positive Impact:
- Perpetuation of Inequality: Marxists argue that the education system inherently serves the interests of the higher social classes, with policies often masking or reinforcing existing inequalities.
- Limited Impact: Critics argue that policies like the Pupil Premium have had a limited impact on narrowing the gap between disadvantaged and other students.
- Tokenistic: Compensatory education initiatives like Sure Start may be viewed as tokenistic measures that fail to address the root causes of social class inequality.
- Patriarchal Education System: Marxist feminists argue that policies have not adequately addressed the inequalities faced by working-class girls within a patriarchal education system.
Conclusion
The impact of educational policies on social class equality is complex and multifaceted. While some policies have demonstrably led to improvements in qualifications and attainment for working-class students, others have been criticized for their limited effectiveness or for exacerbating existing inequalities. Ultimately, the effectiveness of educational policies in promoting social class equality requires careful consideration of factors such as access to resources, cultural capital, and the broader societal structures that contribute to social class disparities.
Assess the impact of educational policies on equality in relation to social class.
The education system in any society plays a crucial role in shaping the life chances of individuals. In Britain, a key debate revolves around the impact of educational policies on social class equality. While some argue that policies since the 1980s have promoted greater equality, others contend that they have exacerbated existing class disparities. This essay will critically assess both sides of this argument, drawing on a range of sociological perspectives.
Arguments for a Positive Impact
Proponents of the view that educational policies have positively impacted social class equality often point to initiatives aimed at widening participation and raising standards for disadvantaged students.
New Vocationalism, introduced by the Conservative government in the 1980s, sought to address the skills gap by offering vocational training alongside formal education. Programs like the Youth Training Scheme (YTS) and the introduction of NVQs aimed to equip working-class youth with practical skills relevant to the job market.
New Labour's social democratic approach led to further investments in compensatory education. Sure Start centres provided early years support to families in deprived areas, while programs like Education Action Zones (EAZs) and Excellence in Cities (EiC) directed additional funding to inner-city schools. The introduction of the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) offered financial assistance to students from low-income backgrounds, encouraging them to stay in post-16 education.
The Coalition government's introduction of the pupil premium in 2011, allocating additional funding to schools for each disadvantaged student, aimed to further close the attainment gap.
Advocates argue that these policies, coupled with the marketisation of education through parental choice and league tables, have led to a rise in overall educational attainment, including among working-class students.
Arguments for a Negative Impact
However, critics argue that these policies have been insufficient in addressing the deeply rooted inequalities within the education system.
They argue that marketisation policies, while increasing choice for some, have exacerbated inequalities by advantaging middle-class parents who possess the necessary cultural and economic capital to navigate the system effectively (Bourdieu, Ball, Tomlinson, Gewirtz, 1995). This has led to a polarised education system with well-resourced schools in affluent areas and struggling "sink" schools in deprived areas (Ball, 2008).
Furthermore, critics argue that vocational education often serves as a second-class route, offering lower-status qualifications and limiting future prospects for working-class students (Dan Finn, 1987).
While initiatives like Sure Start were well-intentioned, their effectiveness has been questioned due to budget cuts and the entrenched nature of social deprivation.
The scrapping of EMA by the Coalition government has been linked to a decline in post-16 participation among students from disadvantaged backgrounds (Ball).
Additionally, the rise in tuition fees has deterred many working-class students from pursuing higher education, despite efforts to widen participation.
From a Marxist perspective, these policies represent a form of "ideological window dressing," masking the fundamental inequalities inherent within a capitalist system that reproduces class divisions.
Conclusion
In conclusion, while educational policies have aimed to promote equality, their impact on social class remains contested. While some progress has been made in raising overall attainment, significant class disparities persist. The marketisation of education, coupled with inadequate funding for compensatory programs and the persistence of social and cultural inequalities, continues to disadvantage working-class students. Addressing social class inequality in education requires a multi-faceted approach that tackles both in-school and out-of-school factors, addressing the root causes of disadvantage rather than merely its symptoms.
Free Mark Scheme Extracts
AO1: Knowledge and understanding
Candidates may consider a range of policies - due to the wording of the question this can include policies pre-1988. Any educational policy will be rewarded where relevant and should be credited in the same way as studies.
NOTE: Due to the nature of this question, any policies, with either a positive OR negative impact on social inequality, may be presented as AO1 knowledge regarding the ‘impact of educational policies’ on social class inequality. They should be credited in the way that is most appropriate to the candidate’s response.
It is possible that candidates will structure their response into a debate between policies and other evidence which suggest that the impact has had a positive impact on social class inequality vs policies and other evidence which suggest that the impact has had a negative impact on social class inequality. This should be credited as AO1 knowledge and AO3 analysis and evaluation respectively.
Candidates may consider a range of sociological approaches, such as:
- New Right
- Social Democratic
- Functionalism
- Postmodern view
Evidence and arguments for the view that the impact of educational policies on social class inequality has been positive:
1980-90s Conservative government (New Right ideology):
- New Vocationalism e.g. YTS - training with an employer alongside formal education to ensure young people, particularly working class, acquired the skills required by industry;
- NVQs - assessed on competencies and skills under workplace conditions; focus - working class young people, e.g. engineering, hairdressing;
- GNVQs 1992-2007, introduced initially by John Major’s Conservative Party, New Right ideology, continued by New Labour, a mixture of academic and vocational skills. Popular with working class students - aimed to raise the status of vocational qualifications in schools and colleges and make them equivalent to academic qualifications.
- Marketisation: policies that improve working class attainment through diversity and choice
- 1988 ERA: parental choice, open enrolment, league tables - to raise standards of all pupils. From 1988 the proportion of school leavers gaining qualifications, including working class pupils, increased.
Late 1990s-2000s New Labour government (social democratic approach)
- Compensatory education: educational opportunities such as 1999 Sure Start, support for parents of pre-school children in disadvantaged areas.
- EAZ’s – and Excellence in Cities (EiC) increased funding in inner city areas to boost attainment for students from low income groups. Percentage of pupils gaining five or more A*-C grades increased by 11% points in EiC schools compared to 5% points in other schools.
- Academies set up to replace ‘failing’ comprehensives in inner city areas, to boost attainment of children in the most deprived areas.
- EMA - weekly cash allowance to young people from low income families to remain in post 16 education: continues today in Wales.
- Expanded access to higher education to help close widening class gap in participation in higher education.
- New Deal for Young People, to help unemployed young people into workplace: 46% of participants entered employment
2010-2015 Coalition government (aim to turn schools into ‘engines of social mobility’)
- 2011 ‘pupil premium’ - additional payment for schools for every free school meal child enrolled. Gap between free school meal pupils and others has narrowed at key stage 2 and GCSE
- Expansion of academies; Francis et al (2014) found the improvement in GCSE results for disadvantaged children in sponsored academies greater than the average for mainstream schools, 2011-2013.
AO2: Application
The selected knowledge should be directly related to the specific question - the impact of educational policies on equality in relation to social class.
AO3: Analysis and evaluation
Evidence and arguments against the view that the impact of educational policies on social class has been positive/ that educational policies have had an impact on social class inequality:
- Policies which were not designed to address social class inequalities but for another motivation, such as increasing choice, introducing market principles etc.
- Vocational policies such as YTS offered second class training for trainees and cheap labour for employers; Dan Finn, 1987
- GNVQs not seen as having the same worth as GCSEs and A levels.
- Marketisation policies: ERA parental choice depended on the parents social, cultural and economic capital; Bourdieu, Ball, Tomlinson, Gewirtz, 1995
- Widening participation: Despite increased places at universities, tuition fees and the cost of HE has meant participation rates at higher education widened; the value of some degrees has fallen, often at universities mainly attended by those from the working class.
- Marketisation and choice: Labour’s encouragement of academies and specialist schools, middle class parents able to manipulate the system to benefit their children. More deprived geographical areas contain the ‘sink’ schools; Ball 2008
- Marketisation and Choice: Coalition government. The Sutton Trust 2014 - variation between academy chains, benefits to children from disadvantaged backgrounds not even.
- Compensatory education: Social capital: Coalition government closed many Sure Start centres; Marxists describe schemes as ideological window dressing. 2015 LSE report found Sure Start schemes faced significant budget constraints.
- Compensatory Education: material factors: EMA scrapped in England - proportion of 16-18 year olds staying on in full-time education dropped; Ball
- Raising tuition fees, 2012 - Independent Commission on Fees (2012) many young people put off applying to university because of fear of debt. Although poorer students more likely to progress to higher education than in the past, likelihood of them doing so relative to their richer peers is now lower; Machin and Vignoles.
- Marxists - education system has always been designed around the interests of the higher social classes.
- Marxist feminist critique that education policies have not successfully tackled a patriarchal education system; Walby
- Other reasonable response (expect to see criticisms of the effectiveness of the policies selected)