HND Social Science

Sociology A

Education Meritocracy or Not?

Social reproduction

Structures are created by the activities of individuals and in turn the existence of structures makes actions possible. Theses processes work to maintain the cohesion of classes from one generation to the next. This is at its most visible at the extremes of the class structure. Willis in his classic 1977 study of boys at school ‘Learning to labour’ argues the education system reproduces the class structure of society in the following manner,

Meritocracy

A social system in which rewards and social position are allocated on ability and achievement rather than ascriptive factors such as class, ethnicity or gender. It is claimed to work as a ladder of opportunity as shown in the table below:

How the Ladder of opportunity is assumed to work	Ladder of Opportunity	Inequalities on the ladder
Positions are open to all on the basis of achievement rather than ascription, so allowing social mobility	Position in class system	Affected by class, ethnicity and gender

Examinations judge performance by universal criteria & are used for occupational recruitment	Educational qualifications	Shaped by material advantages in the home
	=
Competition on equal terms for educational success	Equality of opportunity in schools	Variations exist within and between schools
	+
Hard work is required to make use of abilities	Motivation/effort	Influenced by subcultural values, attitudes, beliefs & parental interest
	+
Intelligence is given at birth	Talent/abilities	Unequally distributed at the outset and prevents the operation of true equality of opportunity

Role Allocation

The functionalists Davis and Moore argue that the role of education is to select and allocate people to occupations, which best suit, their abilities and talents. Educational mechanisms such as grades, examinations, references and qualifications are used to sift and sort individuals. Society is a meritocracy in which people are rewarded for intelligence, ability and effort.

Functionalists argue that both the most talented and the least talented end up in jobs in which they make an efficient contribution to the smooth running of capitalist society. The most qualified are motivated by the high financial rewards attached to top jobs. In this sense, inequalities in income and wealth are seen as functional because high rewards promote competition which sifts the best from the rest.

However, Marxists and other critical thinkers reject the view that the UK education system is meritocratic for three broad reasons.

They argue as long as private education continues to exist that the UK can never be meritocratic. Public schools symbolise class inequality and injustice because their products are vastly over-represented in top jobs. There is evidence that this is the result of ‘old boy networks’ rather than any superior intelligence or ability. Never the less supporters of private education believe it to be an essential part of a free market and argue that parents should have the right to choose what type of education they want for their children and how to spend their money.
Some have argued that the focus on choice and flexibility has created a hierarchy of educational institutions based on forms of selection rather than equal opportunities. In the secondary sector, grammar schools practise overt selection whilst selection by mortgage is becoming a norm in the comprehensive sector as middle-class parents buy houses in areas with good comprehensives. The focus on parental choice and league tables has created an incentive for schools to be more selective in their intake and to exclude children likely to perform badly in league table exams.
The disproportionate inequalities in achievement experienced by groups such as the working class and particular ethnic minorities in the British education system also undermine the concept of meritocracy.

Policies for Under-Achieving Groups

Theory	Individual	Home	School	Society
Key concept Explanation for failure	Slow learners Children fail because of low ability	Deprivation Children fail because they are deprived	Disadvantaged Schools fail children	Exploitation The education system creates & perpetuates failure
POLICY Remedy	Education tailored to child’s ability	Compensatory education & positive discrimination	Institutional change	Redistribution of power & control
Class	Under the bi-partite system the 11+ allocated to one of two types of school the less academic (usually WC went to junior secondary) Streaming and setting places pupils of similar ability in the same teaching group. Remedial education	Educational priority Areas (EPA), areas of multiple deprivation identified & additional resources allocated to make up for assumed cultural & language deficits in the home. Involve parents in education by giving them more legal responsibility	Comp schools provide the same type of ED for children of all social backgrounds, give them same chance to gain quals Mixed ability teaching avoids streaming pupils with consequent effects of labelling & self fulfilling prophesies.	Abolition of private education Assisted places scheme gave scholarships to able children to attend privates schools ( very small number)
Ethnic groups	Disproportionate number of West Indian boys taught in special needs classes	Special funding to primary schools with high proportions of ethnic minorities ESOL classes	Multi-cultural education to encourage respect for other people’s culture e.g. Divali	Voluntary aided status for schools set up by religious communities few granted this status
Gender	!!+ Allocation of places adjusted girl’s marks down on the assumption that boys mature later	GIST WISE	Single sex schools or classes attempt to tackle gender inequality by making school less hostile to girls	National curriculum ensures equal access to same curriculum Sex discrimination Act Women’s studies.