Education has been made to follow the principle that choices made by the government are designed to affect the production of goods and services in the community. The primary purpose of education in recent years is the production of a 'competent and educationally adaptable workforce'. Education is therefore seen as an economic facet. But economic policy has constantly changing boundaries. Once, education and arguments about things like the curriculum were a purely an educational matter. There was a growing belief that the quality of education and its effects on the quality of the workforce and in turn its effects on the economy has prompted an increase in the economic arguments about education. It has damaged the idea that what is taught in schools should be decided by educators and those concerned with education.
Where you were educated can make a difference. It is reflected in politics and economics. Cabinet members have tended to be from public school and Oxbridge educational backgrounds. It is true of both Conservative and Labour Governments. The mistakenly held view that Thatcher, Major and Heath's 'meritocratic' Cabinets were mainly from grammar school backgrounds was not true. In fact a higher percentage of ministers were from public school backgrounds than previously and a higher percentage of Oxbridge graduates but a declining number of aristocrats. Major's 'classless society' Cabinet contained over 70% Oxbridge and private school. Labour Cabinets are not so simple. There has been an increase in Oxbridge educated members and ex-public school. There is however still a higher percentage of Labour Cabinet ministers from grammar school and working class backgrounds.
Similar patterns can be seen in the House of Commons. The majority of Conservative MPs are traditionally from public school and Oxbridge backgrounds. The percentage has declined from 83% in 1945 to 75% public school and 48% Oxbridge of 68% university educated in 1974. A change occured in 1979 at just over half, and since with a decline in the numbers of public school and Oxbridge educated members and again in 1987 and 1992. In contrast, the Labour party has seen an increase in the number of university educated members. In 1945, 34% were university educated, 1970, just over half the PLP, 1983 54% and by 1992, 61% with most being from universities other than Oxford or Cambridge. Oxbridge educated Labour MPs have increased only from 15% in 1945 to 16% in 1992. The Conservatives are becoming less aristocratic and increasingly a business controlled party and the Labour Party is increasingly middle class with no experience of manual work or business (Jones, Gray, Kavanagh, Moran, Norton and Seldon, 1998).
In workplaces all over the country, there are large differences in earnings based on the degree of education and training. The earning of both men and women are greater the more education they have had. There is also a relationship between age and earnings. Men earn most between the ages of 40-49 and women between 30-39. Age in men is also correlated with experience and training up to middle age and with women as they take time off to have a family. College or university education increases earnings up to 5-10% pa after inflation. A university education is a worthy investment it would appear. Education, it has to said, if it is the main source of skills differentials is not the only source of earnings differentials. A picture of competitive labour markets can be used to explain it (Parkin, Powell and Matthews, 1997). Human capital includes all the education, skills and life experiences of an individual. Management may discuss employees' potential as some may be worth investing in. The intergration of task and personal learning can further career growth and effectiveness (Bratton and Gold, 1999).
The external benfits of education are often overlooked by individuals and firms. It can lead to the creation of new knowledge which can be copied by others. People balance the private marginal costs and private marginal benfits of education when making their choices. Efficient allocation of resources for education provision is best done by public choice and government policies. Subsidies, below cost provision and patents can provide a good stock of knowledge (Parkin, Powell and Matthews, 1997). Lifelong Learning is part of a process intended to fulfil a vision of a 'learning nation' and the social and political nature of learning. Education is seen as an important part of the socialisation process. The Government plans for a University For Life, like the Open University, and learning accounts with a state contribution (Mullins, 1999).
Streaming is a feature of British schools that groups together children of similar overall ability. It is also called banding or setting. It is criticised for promoting ascribed status, reinforcing class differences and structuring friendships and cultures. It is defended by saying that children of similar ability develop better when schooled together. A rival claim is that classes should be of mixed ability so that competition can take place. It is also said to be a self-fulfilling prophecy. The 1980 Act extended market economics in education and the 1988 introduced the National Curriculum.
Credentialism is allocation according to paper qualifications which does not necessarily lead to improved performance. The high demand for jobs leads to competition among applicants. The pursuit of credentials becomes an end in itself and came to be termed the 'Diploma Disease' (Dore, 1976; see also 'The Great Training Robbery' by Berg, 1970). Jobs are awarded to people on the basis of the level of qualification rather than the form or content of the course. The level is of primary significance. The critics suggest that the thesis of credentialism undervalues the intrinsic value of extra education. The screening hypothesis also says that the highest qualifications and type of institution are more important than the content of education. According to the hypothesis, the level of rewards are correlated with the level of qualification. It raises the question of whether these jobs were specialised or professional, skilled or unskilled labour.
A declining rate of staying on in education in the 1990s led to the effort to create a 'flexible and skilled workforce' to help businesses compete in world markets on the basis of quality and speed. Successive governments had the idea of creating a market in training and development where supply and demand determine the training provided. An important element in the infrastructure of the plan are a framework of vocational qualifications to national standards. These competence-based qualifications have been criticised over the meaning of competence and the preference for competence over knowledge and understanding and whether they are more effective than other approaches. They are a required component of some apprenticeship schemes (Bratton and Gold, 1999).
Occupation is the single most important influence on social structure. It is the key determinant of material rewards and status. Class structure closely corresponds to occupational structure. Occupaton is central to political life in the way people vote and to the life of the individual. Education is often the key to a decent occupation for millions of people. Often it is not. There are millions of people doing jobs they do not like and are not properly qualified to do. They do jobs that they did not originally train to do. A job for life is a thing of the past. The flexible workforce is what employers want which means that people who lose a job must have flexible skills they can apply to another one. The power of business means that they can sometimes get what they want.
The questions it raises include whether education should be provided by employers or educators and whether education and jobs should be allocated according to class or merit.
No comments:
Post a Comment