Apply material from item B4 and your own knowledge, evaluate
the view that the marketisation of education has not benefited all
social groups equally. (30 marks)
The marketisation of education refers to the aim of making schools compete with each
other to raise their standards. Schools are essentially run as ‘businesses’ which
compete with each other in an education market(a free market in education)
One way in which the marketisation of education has not benefited all social groups
equally is the idea of parentocracy and how it affects people from different social
classes. As it says in item B4,”...parents now have some choice in their children’s
school”. When the 1988 Education reform Act was introduced by Thatcher(New Right
Conservatives), one policy introduced were exam league tables. Exam league tables
were publications of each and every school’s grades and achievement levels; this
essentially meant that parents from all social classes could see what schools have the
best and worst achievement levels, and make a decision to to send their child to a
specific school(parentocracy which means ‘parent power’/’rule by the parents’).
However, Gerwitz(1995) did a study on 14 London Secondary schools, where she
found that middle-class parents had more advantages and opportunities to choose
better schools(due to their cultural, social, educational and economic capitals) than the
working-class parents. Gerwitz calls middle-class parents, ‘privileges-skilled
choosers’ as they could use their economic and cultural capital to manipulate the
education system to their advantage(as they have more than likely experienced
schooling and how the education system works). On the other hand, working-class
parents are either said to be, ‘semi-skilled choosers’ or ‘disconnected-skilled
choosers’ where a lack of economic and cultural capital meant that they found it
difficult to understand the schools admission procedures, and end up sending their
child to the closest school as there was too many costs involved with sending their
child to a better school(e.g. Travel costs). Overall, this shows how middle-class
parents can choose the best school, while working-class parents have to choose the
most realistic options(with no choice and no parentocracy) and have to choose
schools in working-class areas which then reproduces inequality/the poverty cycle.
However, functionalists may disagree with this statement, as they believe that all
students (and parents) all have an equal chance as we live in a meritocratic society.
Even if students may get placed in different schools, they are all essentially learning
the same content due to the National Curriculum(another marketisation policy). This
means that pupils can have an equal chance to do well, to gain educational success.
the view that the marketisation of education has not benefited all
social groups equally. (30 marks)
The marketisation of education refers to the aim of making schools compete with each
other to raise their standards. Schools are essentially run as ‘businesses’ which
compete with each other in an education market(a free market in education)
One way in which the marketisation of education has not benefited all social groups
equally is the idea of parentocracy and how it affects people from different social
classes. As it says in item B4,”...parents now have some choice in their children’s
school”. When the 1988 Education reform Act was introduced by Thatcher(New Right
Conservatives), one policy introduced were exam league tables. Exam league tables
were publications of each and every school’s grades and achievement levels; this
essentially meant that parents from all social classes could see what schools have the
best and worst achievement levels, and make a decision to to send their child to a
specific school(parentocracy which means ‘parent power’/’rule by the parents’).
However, Gerwitz(1995) did a study on 14 London Secondary schools, where she
found that middle-class parents had more advantages and opportunities to choose
better schools(due to their cultural, social, educational and economic capitals) than the
working-class parents. Gerwitz calls middle-class parents, ‘privileges-skilled
choosers’ as they could use their economic and cultural capital to manipulate the
education system to their advantage(as they have more than likely experienced
schooling and how the education system works). On the other hand, working-class
parents are either said to be, ‘semi-skilled choosers’ or ‘disconnected-skilled
choosers’ where a lack of economic and cultural capital meant that they found it
difficult to understand the schools admission procedures, and end up sending their
child to the closest school as there was too many costs involved with sending their
child to a better school(e.g. Travel costs). Overall, this shows how middle-class
parents can choose the best school, while working-class parents have to choose the
most realistic options(with no choice and no parentocracy) and have to choose
schools in working-class areas which then reproduces inequality/the poverty cycle.
However, functionalists may disagree with this statement, as they believe that all
students (and parents) all have an equal chance as we live in a meritocratic society.
Even if students may get placed in different schools, they are all essentially learning
the same content due to the National Curriculum(another marketisation policy). This
means that pupils can have an equal chance to do well, to gain educational success.
