2.4.3
Marketisation
The Marketisation of Education
The Marketisation of Education
The marketisation of education includes three main features: Independence, Competition, and Choice.
Main features
Main features
- The marketisation of education began with the 1988 Education Reform Act, influenced by the neoliberal ideas of the New Right, and includes three main features:
- Independence.
- Competition.
- Choice.
Independence
Independence
- Independence refers to the way schools operate similarly to businesses, in that they have control over their own affairs.
Competition
Competition
- Competition means that schools compete with other schools for customers (pupils).
Choice
Choice
- Choice or ‘parent power’ (a ‘parentocracy’) refers to the way in which parents and potential pupils (the customers) are given the opportunity to decide which school or college they attend, rather than these decisions being made by the local authority.
Quality control system
Quality control system
- These features are then supported by a quality control system that includes inspections (by Ofsted), a national curriculum approved by the government, and testing and the publication of Performance League tables to help parents identify the best and weakest schools.
Evaluation of Marketisation
Evaluation of Marketisation
There are many ways that the marketisation of education has negatively affected the education system in the UK.
Parentocracy
Parentocracy
- Parentocracy isn’t a reality for many parents, and while the middle-classes have gained most from parental choice, those families from disadvantaged backgrounds might be discriminated against through hidden or covert methods.
Negative consequences
Negative consequences
- Schools might attempt to maintain their position in league tables by concentrating resources on those pupils who are most likely to achieve (usually the middle-class) which increases divisions between pupils.
Disadvantages
Disadvantages
- Marketisation fails to help the weaker schools improve, as they lose money to their more successful rivals.
Control
Control
- There is less control over the planning and supply of school places and less control over school quality, with little regulation to prevent illegal and unfair covert admission policies.
1Theory & Methods
1.1Sociological Theories
1.2Sociological Methods
2Education with Methods in Context
2.1Role & Function of the Education System
2.2Educational Achievement
2.3Relationships & Processes Within Schools
3Option 1: Culture & Identity
3.1Conceptions of Culture
3.2Identity & Socialisation
3.3Social Identity
3.4Production, Consumption & Globalisation
4Option 1: Families & Households
4.1Families & Households
4.2Changing Patterns
4.3The Symmetrical Family
4.4Children & Childhood
5Option 1: Health
5.1Social Constructions
5.2Social Distribution of Healthcare
5.3Provision & Access to Healthcare
5.4Mental Health
6Option 1: Work, Poverty & Welfare
6.1Poverty & Wealth
7Option 2: Beliefs in Society
7.1Ideology, Science & Religion
7.2Religious Movements
7.3Society & Religion
8Option 2: Global Development
8.1Development, Underdevelopment & Global Inequality
8.2Globalisation & Global Organisations
8.3Aid, Trade, Industrialisation, Urbanisation
9Option 2: The Media
9.1Contemporary Media
9.2Media Representations
10Crime & Deviance
10.1Crime & Society
10.2Social Distribution of Crime
Jump to other topics
1Theory & Methods
1.1Sociological Theories
1.2Sociological Methods
2Education with Methods in Context
2.1Role & Function of the Education System
2.2Educational Achievement
2.3Relationships & Processes Within Schools
3Option 1: Culture & Identity
3.1Conceptions of Culture
3.2Identity & Socialisation
3.3Social Identity
3.4Production, Consumption & Globalisation
4Option 1: Families & Households
4.1Families & Households
4.2Changing Patterns
4.3The Symmetrical Family
4.4Children & Childhood
5Option 1: Health
5.1Social Constructions
5.2Social Distribution of Healthcare
5.3Provision & Access to Healthcare
5.4Mental Health
6Option 1: Work, Poverty & Welfare
6.1Poverty & Wealth
7Option 2: Beliefs in Society
7.1Ideology, Science & Religion
7.2Religious Movements
7.3Society & Religion
8Option 2: Global Development
8.1Development, Underdevelopment & Global Inequality
8.2Globalisation & Global Organisations
8.3Aid, Trade, Industrialisation, Urbanisation
9Option 2: The Media
9.1Contemporary Media
9.2Media Representations
10Crime & Deviance
10.1Crime & Society
10.2Social Distribution of Crime
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