Selection and Marketisation in Education (OCR A-Level Sociology): Revision Notes

Selection and Marketisation in Education

Selection refers to the process by which students are chosen or sorted into different schools or based on criteria such as academic ability, socioeconomic status, or other factors.

Marketisation refers to the application of market principles to the education sector, including competition, choice, and privatisation.

Key Aspects:

Selection:

• Academic Selection: Students are chosen based on academic performance, such as entrance exams or test scores.

• Social Selection: Factors like socioeconomic status, cultural capital, and parental involvement can influence selection processes.

• Segregation: Selection can lead to segregation by ability, class, ethnicity, or other characteristics.

Marketisation:

• Competition: Schools compete for students, funding, and resources.

• Parental Choice: Parents have the ability to choose schools, leading to increased competition among schools to attract students.

• Privatisation: Introduction of private sector practices and entities into the public education system, including private schools and academies.

Relevant Sociologists and Studies:

1. Stephen Ball (1994):

• Work: "Education Reform: A Critical and Post-Structural Approach"

• Contribution: Ball analysed the impact of marketisation policies in the UK. He argued that marketisation increases social inequalities, as middle-class parents are better equipped to navigate the system and gain access to desirable schools.

2. Sharon Gewirtz (1995):

• Work: "Markets, Choice and Equity in Education"

• Contribution: Gewirtz highlighted how marketisation and parental choice can exacerbate social inequalities. She found that middle-class parents have more cultural and social capital to make informed choices, whereas working-class parents often lack the same resources.

3. David Gillborn and Deborah Youdell (2000):

• Work: "Rationing Education: Policy, Practice, Reform and Equity"

• Contribution: Gillborn and Youdell examined the effects of selection and marketisation on educational equity. They introduced the concept of "educational triage", where schools prioritise students who are more likely to succeed to improve their rankings, often neglecting those who need more support.

4. Basil Bernstein (1971):

• Work: "Class, Codes and Control: Vol. 1 Theoretical Studies Towards a Sociology of Language"

• Contribution: Bernstein's work on language codes (restricted and elaborated codes) relates to how marketisation and selection can disadvantage working-class students, who may not have access to the dominant language forms valued by schools.

5. Margaret Hodge and Ian Peart (1995):

• Work: Research on school choice and its effects

• Contribution: Hodge and Peart investigated the effects of school choice policies, finding that they often lead to increased segregation by social class and ethnicity, as well-resourced families are more able to take advantage of these policies.

Implications:

• Inequality: Selection and marketisation can exacerbate educational inequalities, as schools and parents with more resources can better navigate and benefit from the system.

• Segregation: These processes can lead to increased social, economic, and academic segregation in schools.

• Quality of Education: While marketisation aims to improve educational standards through competition, it can also lead to a focus on performance metrics at the expense of broader educational goals.