Equal Opportunity Policies

Equal opportunity policies

An example exam question and model answer:

📝 Using the information below: Applying material from item B and your knowledge, evaluate the view that the main purpose of educational policy since 1944 has been to reduce inequality (30 marks) - Although the item has not been included here, you should always reference quotes from it throughout your response.

Many educational policies have been introduced over the years. Some sociologists, such as the New Right argue that these policies have improved standards within education. However, others such as Marxists argue that these maintain differences in educational achievement by reproducing inequalities.

Though, it should be considered that policies have been specifically introduced to tackle inequalities, though their effectiveness can be questioned.

Marketisation and league tables

The Education Reform Act 1988 introduced marketisation policies such as the publication of league tables and OFSTED reports to improve standards within schools. Formula funding was also introduced which allocates funds to schools based on how many pupils they attract

As a result, competition between schools to attract pupils increased, forcing them to improve in order to make more profit, perhaps by offering better resources, teaching and facilities.

Therefore, New Right sociologists such as Thatcher argue that increased competition between schools benefits pupils as by schools striving to improve, it is believed that educational achievement should also improve as schools are offering a better quality of education

Evaluation:

Marxists – Educational achievement may improve for some social groups, but this creates further disadvantages for working-class pupils. This is because schools improving standards allows them to be more selective.

Bartlett – This encourages cream-skimming and silt-shifting as higher-ranked schools choose mainly middle-class pupils, who are statistically more likely to achieve high results and improve their league table ranking.

This results in working-class pupils being forced to attend schools with limited resources and a lower quality of teaching in comparison to higher-ranked schools, which may increase the likelihood of them underachieving.

Thus, increased competition results in schools producing unequal opportunities, ultimately reproducing social class inequalities

Open enrolment

The Education Reform Act 1988 introduced open enrolment which gave parents greater choice over where to send their child to school. This can be influenced by factors such as league tables and Ofsted reports.

Furthermore, there are now more types of schools available. For instance, due to privatisation, and influenced by globalisation, academies and free schools have been introduced, ultimately providing more types of schools for parents to choose from for their children

The New Right argue that this increasing choice has led to parents becoming consumers who are able to decide the standard of their children's education, ultimately reducing inequalities as all parents are able to choose from the same schools.

Evaluation:

However, critics argue that this increased parental choice advantages middle-class parents, further increasing class inequalities

Gerwirtz: This is because, middle-class parents possess economic and cultural capital, which working-class parents generally lack, putting middle-class parents in a better position to choose the best schools for their children.

As a result, working-class parents may be less aware of the choices open to them and often have to send their children to the nearest school as they are unable to fund travel to the schools with the best facilities.

Therefore, although all parents have greater choice, in theory, middle-class parents are more able to exercise their choice than working-class parents. Essentially, this reproduces class inequalities by placing working-class pupils at a disadvantage.

New labour policies

Though, policies have been introduced by the New Labour government which aimed to tackle inequalities and improve the achievement of working-class groups

For instance, the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) tried to tackle material deprivation by giving financial support to 16–19-year-olds in education. This reduced the gap between middle-and working-class pupils' achievement, ultimately reducing class inequalities.

Policies such as Sure Start centres were also introduced, which tried to tackle cultural deprivation by improving the cultural capital of working-class students during preschool, to reduce inequalities when they attended school in the future

Evaluation:

However, the EMA and Sure Start were both abolished by the Coalition government and University tuition fees were later tripled to £9,000 a year, ultimately deterring working-class pupils from continuing into higher education. Critics argue that this has fundamentally reduced opportunities for working-class pupils.

However, even with the EMA and Sure Start centres present, the attainment gap still remained, ultimately, challenging their effectiveness

The National Curriculum

The Education Reform Act introduced the national curriculum in an attempt to provide greater equality within education. This is because it ensures that all schools teach core subjects, allowing pupils to leave having been taught the same content in these subjects

Feminists would argue that this had been beneficial for girls as it makes science compulsory and less of a patriarchal domain, reducing limits on their opportunities.

Additionally, the curriculum is also being influenced by globalisation. Increasing cultural globalisation from rising migration has meant that education is now more multicultural. This has potentially led to changes in the curriculum to become less ethnocentric. For instance, by adding more black writers to English courses and teaching languages such as, Mandarin, Arabic and Spanish in the UK, therefore incorporating other cultures and fundamentally providing greater equality within learning in education

Evaluation:

However, the curriculum still prioritises Western culture, making it ethnocentric.

To illustrate, 87.5% of the AQA A level History specification is based on Western culture. As a result, ethnic minorities may begin to feel marginalised, placing them at a disadvantage as they struggle to identify with what they are being taught.

Therefore, the NC can be seen as a form of institutional racism that disadvantages ethnic minorities and thus, perhaps the national curriculum isn't promoting greater quality for all students.

· Inequalities still remain, policies haven't successfully tackled the root cause

· Policies potentially created further disadvantages for groups such as the working class by reproducing class inequalities