Comprehensive Education Development into the Great Britain - Essay Example

Secondary schools in Britain moved from a system of extensive and selective learning to one with comprehensive education right through the Sixties and seventies. One of the important goals of the introduction of comprehensive schools in the Nineteen Sixties was to scale back class inequalities in educational achievement. This paper examines the development of comprehensive education system from the tripartite system of education. Before the educational reforms, students would take an exam at age 11, which decided whether they would attend an academically oriented grammar college or a lower degree secondary school. The British transition provides an excellent way for the study of the effect of a comprehensive system as compared to selective schooling system on the student's achievement. In the traditional British school system, scholars would attend an academically selective grammar college at age 11, or they would attend a secondary modern school, which used to be academically less hard. The tripartite system had its disadvantages and also its advantages but the criticisms made it necessary to development of comprehensive education, which was friendlier to the students and all the scholars involved. Starting within the Nineteen Fifties, there was once dissatisfaction with choices on the local level, and a few native authorities began to experiment with comprehensive colleges. In 1965, the local authorities requested the Local Education Authorities (LEAs) to make plans to convert to a comprehensive education system. The implementation went on slowly, with sooner growing, more Labour leaning LEAs moving to comprehensive colleges more quickly while Conservative leaning Authorities implemented the amendment extra slowly. Presently there are still few conservatives offering grammar schools as an option INTRODUCTION National school programs range extensively within the quantity of skill tracking of scholars they provide in secondary school. Some education systems are based on comprehensive systems, where students of all abilities go to similar schools, although there is typically some tracking within the schools. Other systems channel students at an early age into different school types based on academic standards (tripartite system). The British idea is appealing since it involved a significant and a well defined change in terms of the ability of secondary school scholars, thus offering a potential way to assess the importance of comprehensive education system on student achievement. Comprehensive education is an education system where selection is not based on academic foundation or competency. A tripartite education system was created by the 1944 Education act and provided the basis of a state funded secondary school sector. The structure was to have three schools, which were grammar school, secondary technical school and secondary modern school (Education Act 1944). In the essay, we are going to discuss why Britain switched to the comprehensive system from tripartite system and the setbacks and advantages of the comprehensive system. We are also going to look at the key areas in the development of the comprehensive education system and the factors which lead to its implementation. Comprehensive education can be looked at as an improvement of the tripartite system, but it also has its own disadvantages. Historical development of Comprehensive Education from the Tripartite System in Britain The 1944 Education Act or the Butler Act brought about the tripartite education system which was found on the belief that at eleven years of age it was possible to measure intelligence of a child, the basis of this is to make a choice on the activity, or career the child might be suited to. Children sat the 11+ exam which was made up of English, Math and IQ tests. Those who passed were deemed to be more academic and would then proceed to secondary grammar school while the other would go to lower level grammar school. By the early 1960s, many LEAs were devising and reorganizing plans to end the traditional selective education system or to challenge it in one way or another. In 1963 the comprehensive system was embraced but the conservatives remained with the traditional selective system. This led to development of comprehensive education system. The main aim was to reduce class, ethnic and gender equalities. There were great diff on how the reorganization of the system would be done. Rather than the government evoking interest of LEAs on the particular system of comprehensive education to be used, the government issued Circular 10/65 in July 1965, asking the local authorities to bring forward detailed plans on how to implement comprehensives. Over the period of 1965 to 1974 many comprehensive schools were established all over the country. One of the main contentious issues was the conversion of the remaining grammar schools and establishing less comprehensive education centers. SUMMARY Many key factors had to be considered in the development of comprehensive education system in Britain .The following are the key factors: Intelligence It is the ability and capability of someone to learn something. In the comprehensive education system the intelligence of a student was not considered for him or her to go to a certain secondary school. The most bright and least bright students went to similar schools. Class Inequalities The comprehensive system ensured equality in the education system since there was no discriminating of the students in terms of their abilities. Before the implementation of comprehensive education reform, scholars would take a test exam at the age of 11, which would determine if they would go to an academically oriented school or a lower level secondary school system. This meant the discrimination of the least bright students leading to equalities in the education system. Gender Inequalities Before the comprehensive system the grammar schools present were mainly single-sex schools. Of all the single gender schools present in Britain many place were left for boys than for girls (Aldrich, 2002).Comprehensive education system then came and sorted the issue by developing a new system for all regardless of differences in gender. Talent Before the comprehensive system raw talent was being wasted as student’s left school too early (Newsom Report, 1963) meaning that they would exploit their talents fully. Comprehensive system thus ensured that talent is not wasted by giving everyone a chance to pursue their education while exploiting their talents fully at the secondary schools. The comprehensive education system addressed many issues which were present in the tripartite system. The following are the advantages of comprehensive education system • Entrance into a school was no longer by ability making sure that anyone interested in education would be given a chance regardless of his/her abilities.• Children adapted very well to the secondary school system since primary schools were mixed and the secondary schools were mixed. • Gender inequality was no longer a problem as the secondary schools became mixed hence equal places for boys and girls in schools. Despite the many advantages of the comprehensive education system it also had its own disadvantages like: •Since the age one could leave was raised to 16, teachers faced the issue of keeping 15 year olds who wanted to be at work in school. • Also not all grammar schools converted to comprehensive as the conservative ones remained selective making it a problem as the education system won’t be standardized. REFERENCES Aldrich R (2002) Century of Education, Routledge Farmer, London. Bartlett, S. &Burton, D. (2007) Introduction to Education Studies, Sage Publications, London. Matheson (2004) An Introduction to study of Education David Fulton, London... Central Advisory council for education Plowden report. Great Britain Education act 1979 Great Britain Education act 1944 Great Britain Education Reform act 1988 Ross, J., M. (1972) A Critical appraisal of comprehensive education, National Foundation for Educational Research, Slough: England. Read More