Historically education, in all its various forms and across a plethora of societies, has existed for thousands of years; at its most basic level ensuring the survival and continuation of the human race whilst providing enculturation and socialisation. This is a far cry from what we see today; a compulsory formal education system with a centralised curriculum that is state funded via taxation and free at the point of delivery. This essay will examine the historical origins and developments of the British education system, with particular emphasis on the development of education from World War Two to the present day and key political legislative acts and ideology behind them.
In pre 19th century Great Britain formal education was very
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(Taylor et al 1997).
A national intelligence test was introduced, called the 11 plus, and was used as a selection tool for allocating the right ‘type’ of school for the right ‘type’ of child. This method of selection was seen as a scientific way of making sure that each child was receiving an education based on his or her ability. The test was taken on a single day at the age of eleven and this moulded educational trajectory of that child. A tripartite secondary education structure was born; three types of school, for three types of children; grammar schools for the bright and academic, secondary technical schools for children with aptitudes in technical subjects and secondary moderns for the less academic and more practical children. (Haralambos 2004).
Taylor et al (1997) puts forth that the tripartite system was designed to provide separate yet equal types of schooling that was geared towards a child’s ability and that each type of school should have a parity of esteem. Parity of esteem was an idea and wasn’t mirrored by the reality; 75% of children who failed the 11 plus were disproportionately working class and consigned to
Children who grow up in a poor area go to school where there are 50 kids in one class and individual attention is never given, and children of high class families will go to schools that have smaller class sizes and individual attention. Even when a poor child goes to a better schoolteachers will question if the work done is their own and also only expect hard work from the rich kids. “if you are a child of low income parents, the chances are good that you will receive limited and often careless attention from adults in your high school.” Theodore Sizer “Horace’s Compromise,” “If you are the child of upper-middle income parents, the chances are good that you will receive substantial and careful attention.” (203) These quotes from another author showcase that school in America is often times based on the social standing of the parents.
When one speaks of intelligence or how bright another person is, the often quoted figure is the IQ or intelligence quotient. It is the most often used standard of how smart a person is. This paper shall look at what intelligence tests measure, how the IQ tests measure intelligence and interrogate their history. It shall then apply the tests to school policy and hence evaluate their validity.
With landmark Supreme Court decisions in regards to education such as Brown v Board of Education, which made segregation within schools illegal, one would be inclined to believe that modern schools are void of any inequality. However, at a deeper glance, it is apparent that there is a glaring inequality within public school systems at the national, statewide, and even district-wide level. Such an inequality has drastic results as the education one receives has a high correlation to the college they will attend, and the job they will work. It is in society's best interest that public school systems be improved to equally supplement students with the tools necessary to succeed. While the public school system aims to reduce the inequality within it, they have proven ineffective in guaranteeing children of all races and economic classes an equal education.
The United States, as many believe, is the land of opportunity, however, when looking at individual states, towns, and cities, this popular slogan may seem false to some. Within each state, all schools, such as middle and high schools, may not receive or offer equity. In an effort to revel inequalities within school systems, I will discuss the differences between schools in my town, the apparent lack of public concern about schooling inequality, and what changes could be made in an effort to reduce schooling inequality.
After the welfare state was introduce in Britain in 1942, William Beveridge, introduced free education for all. It took a few years for the Labour government to bring this into action. In 1944 free education for all was instated. The Education Act (1944) came into action. In this act ‘Butler’ introduced free secondary school education and set the age to leave school at 15. There were 3 different types of school available to children, these were, grammar school, secondary modern school or technical school. To determine which school’s children went to they would have to sit the ’11-plus’ IQ test. The advantages of the Free Education for All, is that it gave all children the opportunity for a further education based on exam results and this would let on to better opportunity for jobs and a better lifestyle.
(AC1, AC2, AC4.2) The tripartite secondary school system was introduced to society following the 1944 Education Act, this act divided schooling into primary and secondary levels whilst increasing the school leaving age to 15. During the same year, however, the secondary level of schooling was further divided into 3 categories - grammar, technical and modern. Prior to this act there was no segregation of schooling in place, known as elementary schooling. Grammar schools were intended to schools based around academia, technical schools were intended to be based around science and technical schooling and modern schools were intended to be consistent with ‘general schooling’ and education. The secondary schools children attended was not down to individual choice but rather an IQ test, the 11+ test. The 11+ test was founded by Cyril Burt on the understanding that intelligence was inherited, there was proof into Burt 's theory and it was identified that girls IQ level was often higher. The test was fixed to minimise the girls scores and allow only 20% to meet the requirements for the grammar schools. However this act was not successful as modern and grammar schools were equal in society and science was taught in grammar schools as opposed to technical schools, thus very few technical schools were instituted. By 1952 predominantly people were in modern schools, followed by grammar and only 5% in technical schools so the system proposed had failed to
Education both influences and reflects the values and aspirations of a society. It is therefore important to recognise a set of common aims, values and purposes that underpin a school curriculum and the work of schools in a range of countries (DfE, 2008). This comparative study will explore the curricula of England and Finland - discussing the history, structure and contents; and consider which of the above are more useful in preparing young adults for life in the modern society. With reference to the modern society, it is important to understand that what makes a society modern is entirely a subjective ideology. This takes into consideration that the views and expectations of one modern society may differ from the views and expectations
The Education system of England and Wales underwent a number of important changes since 1944. This essay seeks to concentrate on these major changes describing the rationale and impact they had on the British education system.
In the society of today, there are various educators who believe in assessment as proper method to measure the performance of a child in school as well as the overall achievement of a specific school system. The assessment may be presented in the form of verbal, written, or multiple choice, and it usually pertains to certain academic subjects in the school curriculum. Recently, many educators began to issue standardized tests to measure the intelligence of a common student body. (Rudner, 1989) These standardized tests were initially created to reveal the success in institutional school programs, and exhibit the abilities of students today. The standardized tests can reveal the strengths and weaknesses
How useful are classical sociological accounts for understanding the rise of compulsory education in nineteenth and twentieth century Britain? Discuss with particular reference to Durkheimian and Marxist ideas.
Efforts to reach this are the provision of schools, with entry on a meritocratic basis. Following the 1944 Education Act in Britain, the removal of fees from secondary schools and the provision of student grants, certain financial barriers to educational attainment were minimised. Whether we measure equality of access fairly is a debateable topic, however there is overwhelming evidence which confirms that social class origins are strongly and clearly implicated in educational success or failure. Halsey, Heath and Ridge (1981), in a study of 8529 males educated in England and Wales, found that a boy who was considered middle class, compared to a boy in working class had fourth more times of attending a public school, eighteen times more chance of attending a minor independent school and twelve times more chance of attending a direct grant school and three times more chance of attending a grammar school (Journal of Social Policy, 1981). So this study heavily implies that the pattern of unequal access to the more prestigious secondary schools remained, despite the post war education reforms ‘the probability of a working-class boy receiving a fair education in the mid-fifties and sixties were very little different from that of his parents’ generation thirty years earlier’ (Halsey,
Bowles and Gintis felt it was important to write this article, because they believe that the politics of education are better understood in terms of the need for social control in an unequal and rapidly changing economic order. This point is illustrated on page 396 when the authors say, “The unequal
The education system has been a controversial issue among educators. Requirements of school do not let student choose what they want to study for their future. It’s a big issue to force student study specific curriculums, which don’t help them improve, and what they like to create something. Educators choose a general system for education to all students which based on general knowledge. Intelligent or genius students have to be in that system of education, which doesn’t let them improve their creativity. Educators attempt to change that system to make it better, but their changing was not that great to be an example for the world. Also, did that change qualify education system to compete other systems or not? In some examples and
I was born in Albuquerque, New Mexico. I learned everything I needed to know there. Everything that has to do with life that is. I started my education there and I will continue it where ever I go. My educational background was just as normal and fun like any other kids. But I was the unique child that made my education different and more enjoyable. My learning process has five processes: elementary, middle, high school, college, and the future.
The period between 1965 and the latter end of the 1980s witnessed significant developments in the provision of post primary education in Ireland. This coincided with changes in Irish and indeed worldwide society. What makes the changes that came about so significant was the fact that for so long education policy in Ireland had remained practically untouched. From the 1920s to the 1950s, Ireland was still a place where education was seen as Ideological and a “preserve of the middle classes”. The church/religious