Marketisation of Education

1. Marketisation of Education An attempt to improve education by making schools and colleges compete for students in an 'education market'. Key policies: 1988 Education Reform Act, Specialist School status, Academies.

2. Marketisation…a bit more depth. • The process of applying market forces of consumer choice to education. • Create competition between suppliers of a service. • Reducing state control • Increasing parental choice and competition between schools.

3. The A to C Economy? • Schools under pressure to stream and select pupils – if they want a good league table position and attract pupils and funding. • This policy of publishing league tables creates an “A to C economy” (Gillborn and Youdell) – the schools ration their time and resources to focus on the students who are capable of getting 5 grade A to C to boost the league table position.

4. Name six factors that led to marketisation of schools • External factors…decisions made by government, typically in the 1980s and 1990s. Introduced: • Funding formula – gives a school the same amount of money per pupil. • Exam league tables – ranking each school according to exam performance • Increased competition between schools to attract pupils.

5. Competition and Selection • Marketisation can also explain why schools are under pressure to select more able and largely middle class pupils who will help the league table rankings. • This will increase popularity and therefore funding will increase as the school will not be under subscribed. • While popular schools can “screen” pupils others are obliged to take students which may lead to a fall in results and the school becoming less popular and attracting less funding…

6. Will Bartlett (1993) • The pressures from marketisation have lead to schools… • Cream-skimming – selecting higher ability students who gain the best results and cost less to teach. • Silt-shifting – offloading students which learning difficulties who are expensive and get poor results.

7. Signing a contract… • One way that WC students can be disadvantaged is through the home/school contract. Selective schools often require parents to sign demanding contracts. • Gewirtz – contract which contained everything from attending parents evening to having a well stocked pencil case – a governor thought that such contracts would bring the “right sort of parent” to the school.

8. The cost… • Ball (1994)…schools have had to spend more on marketing themselves to parents, often at the expense of spending in other areas such as SEN.

9. Political Background • These policies come from the NEW RIGHT • Starting point is the 1988 Education Act introduces by the Conservative government under the leadership of Margaret Thatcher. • BUT • These policies were continued by New Labour post 1997 emphasising standards, diversity and choice.

10. A new three part system? • Sheila Macrae (1997) sees the same pattern in post sixteen education. • Top – selective 6th form attracting middle class students providing highly academic courses leading to university • Middle – general further education colleges catering for WC students offering vocational courses • Bottom – government funded schemes providing low level courses leading to low paid jobs.

11. Why? New Right believe… • State control leads to low standards • Inefficiency • Lack of choice for parents • By introducing market forces schools will improve to attract more customers or go out of business.

12. Parentocracy • Miriam David (1993) describes this as a parentocracy as the power is moved away from the schools and the teachers and moved towards the parents. • Advocates believe that this creates greater diversity and choice for parents and that standards are raised through competition.

13. Policies • Publication of exam league tables and OFSTED reports • Business sponsorship of schools • Formula funding • Schools being able to opt out of LEA control

14. The Myth of Parentocracy • The system “looks” fair – parents have the choice to send their children to a range of school. • But…do all parents have the same freedom to choose? • Do all parents have the same cultural and economic capital? • The system creates a myth that education is fair and equitable.

15. Effects • The reproduction of inequality – middle class parents working the system • Ball (1994) – these polices legitimise inequality. • Middle class pupils get the best education – the schools want these pupils as they get the best results so will compete for them. • The funding formula means that the most popular schools will get the most money and provide better facilities.