Planning an essay Discuss how far sociologists would

Planning an essay Discuss how far sociologists would agree that recent education policy has improved education for all students. (12)

Ball, Bowe and Gerwitz 1994 v. Market forces and parental choice v. Studied 15 schools in neighbouring LEA with different pupil backgrounds – e. g. class and ethnicity v. Researched parental choice and league tables v. Found that some schools focused on the more able and pressured to reintroduce setting and streaming – to try to improve results

Policy: University tuition fees - 2012

Policy: Privatisation and the academies program 1997 and 2010

Policy: The introduction of school League tables - 1988

Policy: New 1 -9 GCSE’s and linear exams at GCSE and A level - 2015

Policy: Privatisation and Free schools

Policy English Baccalaureate (Ebacc) a narrower curriculum choice

Policy: National curriculum 1988

Policy: Parental choice (an educational parentocracy) 1988

Policy: Introduction of the funding formula 1988 school funding is based on the number of pupils who attend

From your evidence do you think that most people will agree that recent policies benefit all students? Copy your Diamond nine Use the policy changes on slides 4 -11 to order or rank the policies. - At the top: policies that have benefitted all students the most. - In the middle: those that have benefitted some groups of students. - At the bottom: those that disadvantage many groups of students.

How many paragraphs? • 1 paragraph per PEEEL. (Point, explain, example, Evaluate, link) • You must write 2 PEEEL paragraphs • You could write 3 PEEEL paragraphs • Don’t forget to include a conclusion

How should I organise my essay? 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. What shall I write in an introduction? What are my main points going to be? How do I explain these points? What should I say at the end of each paragraph? How many paragraphs should I have? How do I write a conclusion?

Mark this PEEEL paragraph by annotating the PEEEL One way in which recent educational policy tried to improve education was by introducing league tables in 1988. League tables meant schools had to publicly show many students received the top grades. These are published for parents to see. Schools would work hard to make sure all students achieved good grades so parents picked their school. However, this encourages schools to focus their attention on students who are likely to gain the top grades and schools might become more selective, only allowing more able students to attend. Sociologists would argue this change has improved education for some but not others because weaker students might miss out on the top schools.

Check list for model paragraph and for your own paragraph • Point: Have they named a recent change in educational policy? • Explain: Have they told the reader what the change means? • Explain: Have they told the reader how this was meant to improve education? • Explain: Have they explained to the reader how the change would lead to this improvement? • Evaluate: Have they explained to the reader why this could be a good or bad thing? • Link: Have they mentioned what sociologists think?

What went well, even better if • Go through the checklist and see how many things the paragraph has done. • Write down at least one thing it has done well • Write down at least one way it could be improved. • E. g. Paragraph X – A really good counter argument – The description about league table could have more detail.

What are my main points going to be? • The question is asking about whether recent changes in education have improved education for all students? • Your points need to include an example of a change. • Point: Look through your notes and choose 2 -3 changes that have been made to education since 1988. • Explanation: Next to your changes state the effect of the policy or why it was introduced • Evaluate and link: decide whether sociologists would agree that this was a positive change for all pupils? Do sociologists such as Marxists believe some pupils benefit more than others? • Remember functionalists would probably think that education is a meritocratic system so the changes are fair for all. Margaret Thatcher Conservative 1988 Tony Blair New Labour 1997

Planning activity • Use the PEEAL sheet to plan your essay – • Once you are happy with your plan start writing your essay. • Check the rest of the slides (22 -33) if you want help with your introduction, how to structure a paragraph and conclusion.

INTRO Point What was the effect Evaluate and link 1 Firstly, one policy that has improved education is the introduction of League tables However…… 2 However……. 3 CONC However……

Introduction top tips! • Don’t give to much detail. Keep it to 3 sentences! • Tell the reader what you are going to talk about in the essay. • Some good sentence starters: – ‘in this essay I will consider whether sociologists agree that…’ – ‘the following essay will discuss…’ – ‘this essay will debate the extent to which…’ – Chose one that you like and write it down

Which Introduction is best? 1. I think overall sociologists disagree with the statement that educational changes have improved education for all students. I will talk about the changes and tell you why. 2. There have been many changes to the education system in recent years. This essay will discuss these changes and decide whether sociologists would agree that they have improved education for all children. 3. Lots of things have changed in education recently. I will discuss all of these changes in my essay. Then I will talk about whether sociologists think these changes are good or bad. 4. There have been a considerable amount of changes in the education system recently, such as league tables, parental choice and the marketisation of education with academies. Sociologists don’t agree that these changes benefit all children. The following essay will explain why.

Policy examples you can write about – only choose 3 • • • Marketization and Parental choice – 1988 National curriculum – 1988 Testing (GCSE and SATs) – 1988 League tables 1988 Academies and privatisation – 2002 University fees – 2012 Free schools – 2012 Ebacc – 2015 New linear (1 -9) GCSE’s and A levels - 2015

How do I explain these points? 1. Tell the reader what the change means. – Parental choice meant that parents can now choose what school their child attends. 2. Tell the reader how this was meant to improve education: – This was meant to raise standards schools would have to work to provide a good education so parents would choose to send their child there. 3. Explain to the reader how the change would benefit some pupils. • Some pupils would benefit because schools would deliver better quality education.

How do I evaluate (counter-argue) each point? • Most pupils would benefit from the introduction of league tables because as schools compete to be at the top they would be forced to deliver better quality education. Explain to the reader how some pupils could be disadvantaged by league tables. • However, Sociologists would say that league tables could encourage schools to become more selective of its pupils, as more able pupils will guarantee a better league table position. Therefore, the less able might not get a selected.

Use theories and case studies to counter argue • • However On the other hand Nevertheless Nonetheless Conversely In spite of this. Then again

Has this explanation all 3 things? • The point of league tables was to raise standards in schools by introducing competition between them. • TASK: Improve this explanation. 1. You must tell the reader what a league table is 2. You could explain how league tables introduce competition. • League tables meant schools had to publicly show many students received 5 A*-C. The point of this was to raise standards in schools. Schools would work hard to make sure all students achieved good grades so parents picked that school.

What are my main points going to be? • Use the question to help you make a point. • Question: Discuss how far you would agree that chocolate is better than broccoli • Point: Write a good way to start your first point if you were going to answer this question. • Question: Discuss how far sociologists would agree that recent education policy has improved education for all students. • Point: One way in which recent education policy aimed to improve education was with the introduction of……….

What should I say at the end of each paragraph? • So far you’ve made a point about educational change. • You’ve explained how that point was meant to improve education • What should you do now? • COUNTER ARGUE! • One way in which chocolate is better than broccoli is that it smells a lot nicer when you heat it up! • But broccoli is a lot healthier for you and gives you lots of good vitamins. • But is a rubbish word. It sounds naff! Can you think of any better words to use?

Conclusion • In your conclusion you need to answer the overall question. • How far do sociologists agree that education policies have benefitted all students. • Overall, sociologists disagree that……. They believe that education policies can bring advantages and disadvantages to different groups of children. Marxists would say that many of the policies are designed to benefit more able or academic students.