Comparative Education

Week 22

Comparative Sociology

Recap

• Last week we considered who can be a citizen

• Previously we looked at health and welfare

• Look at how systems can perpetuate inequalities

Outline

• Role of the state in education

• Inequality in the UK

• Inequality in the US

Ideas about Education

• Education for all gradually expanded on the 20th century

• Article 28• 1. ‘States Parties recognize the right of the

child to education and with a view to achieving this right progressively and on the basis of equal opportunity….’

Ideas about Education

• Education for individual gain?

• Education to benefit society or the economy?

• Education as social justice?

• Think about these 3 ideas• Education for individual gain • Education to benefit society or the economy • Education as social justice

• How do they fit with the way you think about education, or the way you think it operates?

Development of UK Education Policy

• 1944 Education Act– Raised school leaving age to 15– Universal free education– Three types of school

• grammar, • secondary modern • technical.

– Entry decided by test (11+ exam)

1944 Education Act

• Act primarily concerned with class inequalities– Working class children same chance to gain

qualifications

• Use education to develop the workforce– Education seen as an investment in economic

growth

Gender inequalities

• Young people were educate on gendered lines for their ‘future role in life’

Continuing inequalities

• The 11+ exam did allow some working-class children into grammar schools

• But class divides persisted – Working-class secondary modern– Middle-class grammar

• Change to comprehensives

11+ Failure

• Why do you think that the 11+ continued rather than ended educational inequalities?

Equal Opportunities?

• Does equality mean treating people the same?

• Can you treat people differently in the name of equal opportunities?

Equal Opportunities?

• Fred• Parents income £50,000 pa (both lawyers) • Fred has own room with a PC • Home contains many books and toys• The family goes to visit places of interest a lot and have two

overseas holidays a year

• George• Parents income £11,000 pa (both cleaners)• George shares room with two brothers• No computer nor many books or toys• Only trips are with school, and George has never been

overseas

• If education policy treats them the same, is that fair?

UK policy

• UK education policy is now concerned with standards

• Standards are to be raised through ‘market-forces’– SATS– League tables– Closure of failing schools

Market-forces

• Middle-class parents are better able to take advantage of the education market– Economic capital

• Living or moving to ‘good’ catchment areas

– Cultural capital• Confidence and knowledge of educational system

to access ‘best’ schools

• Prioritising parental choice does not ensure equal opportunities

Middle-class advantage

• Do you think that market-forces should play a role in education?

• To what extent is the continuing advantage of the middle-classes a problem?

US Policy

• Like the UK, the US has also been concerned for many years about falling school standards

• In 2002, the ‘No Child Left Behind Act’ was made law

No Child Left Behind

• Idea of the Act is to raise standards across public schools

• No excuses for certain subgroups of students

• Many objections raised by educationalists

Working of the Act

• Each school has to test its pupils annually in Grades 3-8 with additional tests in years 10 and 12 (UK school years 4-9, 11 & 13)

• Schools and school districts must demonstrate Annual Yearly Progress towards standards

• Sanctions will apply schools fail

Objections

• As in the UK, schools and educational achievement are linked to social class

• Few extra resources to help students from poorer backgrounds achieve more

• Risk that schools/students from poorer areas will disproportionally be labelled as failing

• Children with disabilities are also counted within the figures, even though many would never be able to achieve the standards

Penalty for failure

• Failure could result in – loss of funding – changing staff – Schools being taken over (Charter schools)

• Children at failing schools can elect to go to a different school – may have to travel long distances– pressure on places will be extreme

No Child Left Behind

• Critics argue that the NCLB Act was designed to undermine the public school sector and encourage privatisation. Do you agree?

Summary

• Education policy can be seen to link to wider ideas in society

• Ideas about the way in which inequalities can be addressed change over time.

• Studies consistently show that children from poorer families are more to attend ‘worse’ schools