Starter activity

1. Starter activity What do the following words mean? Formal socialisation Social control Equality of opportunity Vocationalism Hidden curriculum Meritocracy

2. Answer • Formal socialisation - deliberately setting out to influence people's behaviour • Social control - the way in which the social rules of the cultures within which people live, affect their behaviour • Equality of opportunity - everyone in our society has the same chances. • Vocationalism – Preparation for work • Hidden curriculum - the values that are passed on by schools without people realising. • Meritocracy - the belief that the best people will do well in education and get the best jobs

3. Are schools equally good? Evaluating the extent to which children have equality of opportunity in British schools PowerPoint 2

4. Sociological Targets • To understand that children have very different experiences of education. • To understand that many factors can affect how well children do in school; many of these are social and not intellectual. • To identify some of the social characteristics that predispose children to failure or success.

5. Personal targets • To think critically about social issues • To undertake personal research • To write a paragraph with both AO1 and AO2 skills in evidence.

6. The problem for government • Study of education statistics suggests that the British education system favours members of some social groups and disadvantages others quite significantly. • Certain individuals may do well if they come from disadvantaged groups, but in general, the pattern of evidence suggests that they will have to work harder to succeed.

7. Government policy • Governments since the 1980s have tried to improve schools by offering parents choices about which schools they should send their children to and developing competition between schools to provide the best service. • This has led to a variety of schools and school systems developing particularly in British cities.

8. Policies encouraging competition • Publishing League Table results • Encouraging private investors in schools • Setting up the Academy programme • Offering parental choice of schools • Publishing GCSE and A level league tables • Inspecting (Ofsted/Estyn) and publishing inspection reports

9. Activity • You are parents who are ambitious for your children. • List five things that you would look for in a school when you were making your choices. • How would you set out about judging a school or finding out which was the best school?

10. Parents want the best for children Look at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7304588.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/dorset/7341179.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/6403017.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/glasgow_and_west/7385280.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/education/7764817.stm Are all parents equally able to access the schools with good examination results?

11. Discussion Point • Are examination results the best way of telling the differences in the quality of education provided between schools? • Discuss this question with your study partners and make points both for and against. (4 minutes)

12. Discussion • If you were a school in competition with others, what kind of pupils would you want to attract in order to get the best results? • What kinds of children would you reject from your school if you had the choice? • What impact has market led government policy had on schools and schooling?

13. Independent Schools • Britain has a fee-paying sector in education, which is also known as the independent sector. • Parents pay money to schools that are run as businesses. These schools benefit from large amounts of tax-free income because they qualify as charities. • Some of the best of these schools have excellent results, but there are many schools with limited facilities and poor pay for teachers as well. • They can select their pupils and train them to apply to the best universities.

14. The best schools or the best pupils? • The problem is that it is difficult to know whether schools that produce good examination results are actually the best schools. • Karl Turner found that schools with high percentages of pupils with free school meals were unlikely to get good inspection reports. • Schools with the best examination results tend to be single sex female, fee paying or in very wealthy areas and which select their pupils.

15. Gorard and Tymms (2006) • Stephen Gorard and Peter Tymms (2006) said that pupils' examination results and schools' positions in league tables are affected by • family wealth and pupil's prior ability. • This relationship may be to do with factors that are beyond the control of parents: • poor diet, • poor health, • and lack of resources.

16. Summary of key points • Not all schools are equally as good. • Schools with the best results generally have middle class, wealthy students. • Some people in Britain can afford expensive schools by paying fees. • It is possible that the results are to do with the quality of students rather than the quality of teaching and education offered.

17. Assessment • Write a paragraph in answer to the following question. • Assess the view that competition between schools will encourage better education for pupils • Show clear evidence of both AO1 and AO2 skills in your paragraph

18. Alternative schools Find out more about Summerhill School, one of the most famous alternative schools. Watch these video clips from YouTube http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=abzUqdh6yKY http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GdwjvxcJHTA

19. Independent study • Go to the websites of the following schools and find out about the experiences of pupils. • Eton College • Summerhill School • Which school do you prefer? • Why?