[0:00]Hello, and welcome to this tutor to you sociology topic video on the marketization of education. In our previous video on the new right and education, we examined the rationale behind marketizing education, but it is worth looking at some of the characteristics of marketization again to consolidate that learning. The marketization of education refers to the application of market principles to the education system, a process which has been dominant in the UK for the past 30 years. Two of the most obvious features of marketization are promoting choice and competition. A third, privatization will be examined on its own in a later video. Promoting choice in education means increasing the different types of providers that students can attend, in a similar to in a similar way to how we might have choice over the media outlets we use or the clothes we wear. The more choice a student has, the greater likelihood they will find the right provider for their needs. Promoting competition between these providers is another important principle of marketization. If schools and colleges are competing for students, according to principles of marketization, it will mean that they are striving to be the best choice for students. By offering more chances of success, better resources and facilities, bursaries, scholarships, innovative teaching practices, or opportunities when they leave education. The application of market principles to education is seen as being centered upon the student as a consumer of goods and meeting their needs. So how has marketization been achieved? Well, over the past 30 years, there has been a consensus in education by consecutive governments that marketization is desirable for the education system. The development of the education market began in 1988 with the Conservative government's Education Reform Act. This created open enrollment in schools to give parents greater choice of where to send their children. It also created a national curriculum as a framework of educational standards and standardized testing to allow schools to be compared with one another based upon their results. Further developments included the introduction of formula funding for schools. Prior to this policy, schools had received a share of the local education authority budget for schooling, but formula funding meant schools received a specific amount per pupil, meaning that schools could compete with one another to gain additional funding based upon the number of enrollments they had. Comparison between schools was made more accessible with the introduction of league tables and OFSTED in the early 1990s. Allowing parents to see the results of standardized exams and judgments on the quality of provision at a school increased choice. Marketization of education was not limited to primary and secondary education. The provision of polytechnics and colleges to apply for university status in 1992, provided students with increased choice in higher education as well.
[2:51]Educational policies that promoted marketization were also adopted by the New Labour government that followed on from the Conservative government and Thatcher and Major. Under Blair and Brown's third-way politics, marketization was expanded through a range of educational policies. The introduction of City Academies in 2000 took failing schools in inner city areas and combined them into city center academies with additional funding from private enterprise. This created more choice. And although often hailed as a policy to tackle inequality, it served the needs of creating an education market as well. Furthermore, New Labour introduced a wider range of schools with the introduction of specialist schools, institutions that specialized in certain areas of the curriculum like science, sports, and arts, and the expansion of faith schools to cater for the needs of a more culturally diverse UK. Labour also introduced tuition fees for universities in 1998. Initially, a thousand pounds a year, but these had risen to 3,000 pounds a year by 2010. These top-ups to university funding enabled the growth of the educational market in higher education. In 2010, the Conservative and Liberal Democrat Coalition continued the marketization of education and expanded the education market dramatically. Academization of secondary schools with forced academization of failing schools and the option for high-performing schools to attract investment through converting to academy status, increased the market. The introduction of pupil premiums, additional funds allocated to schools for students of low-income families, further expanded competition between schools for funding. The coalition also reformed the curriculum and assessments to set more challenging targets for schools, as well as introducing progress 8, a new measurement tool based upon the progress a student would make during their school career. These schools were would inevitably be used to inform parent decisions on the best school for their children. Free schools were also introduced allowing parents and other stakeholders to set up provision of education in areas of need, another example of increasing the choice of education available. While in higher education, much maligned policy of tripling tuition fees for high-value courses led to further competition between universities. What have been the impacts of marketization? Well, there is a wider choice of schools available for parents and students to decide on and general availability of information. Free schools, academies, faith schools, university technical colleges, specialist schools and state comprehensives are just some of the options available to students. There has been more private investment into education provision from universities, charities, academy trusts, and even football clubs. University attendance has increased with more students attending university, with many of those being attracted to the UK market from overseas. And finally, there has been an increase in educational standards with more GCSE and A-level passes than ever before. Of course, there are criticisms of marketization, Stephen Ball is amongst many sociologists who suggested that increased parental choice or parentocracy is a myth, and that the education market only serves those with the cultural capital to negotiate it, that is, the middle class. Furthermore, open enrollment has been replaced in many areas with covert selection policy, such as selection by mortgage, or by pricing working-class students out of schools due to high uniform and resource costs. There have also been criticisms of the achievement levels at GCSE and A-level, with some arguing that marketization leads to teaching the test, rather than developing deeper knowledge and higher order thinking skills. The process of educational triage has also been a criticism of marketization, with increased focus on getting borderline pupils to achieve a qualification, while it was also led to accusations of off-rolling, excluding students with low academic ability before tests, so they do not negatively impact on league table performance. That concludes our look at the marketization of education. Thanks for watching.
