New Policy Spaces in Education Molly Warrington, University of Cambridge

Focus + structure Spaces of inequality – places where educational deprivation concentrated Despite unprecedented emphasis on education + spatial policies – equity hasn’t improved Factors contributing to overall failure to improve equity Although new policy spaces of education, policy still driven by the centre

An emphasis on education Education Acts passed almost every year Emphasis on standards and assessment Policy centralisation But also localisation Increasing focus on parental responsibility Greater role for private sector – quasi- markets

Spatially-focused initiatives Education Action Zones Excellence in Cities Academies Increased resources with a redistributive element A government committed to a socially inclusive education system New data (eg PLASC) enable greater knowledge of equity issues: who is achieving / not achieving and where

A socially inclusive education system? Little evidence that equity achieved (Ainscow et al, 2008) Segregation between secondary schools increased (Gorard, 2009) A widening achievement gap between the most and least successful schools (Barker, 2008) Socially mobility stagnant (Cabinet Office, 2009) Policies to improve education benefiting the middle classes (Commission for Social Mobility, 2009)

Children of parents in manual occupations less likely to be in education, training or work post-16 (Archer, 2005) Fewer students from working-class backgrounds go to university (Vandenberghe, 2007); tend to choose ‘new’ universities (Reay, 2001, Warrington, 2008), with poorer labour market outcomes (Keep & Mayhew, 2004)

Overall impact of spatially-focused policies limited (eg, Morris & Rutt, 2005, Machin et al, 2005) ‘No clear evidence that academies work to produce better results than the kind of school they replaced’ (Gorard, 2009) - though some exceptions: ‘a phoenix rising from the ashes in the very heart of the inner city’

People & Places WHY DOES INEQUITY PERSIST? SchoolsPolicies Socio-economic / Socio-cultural factors Context of challenging environments Choice and marketisation Education holding little value Lack of cultural capital Effects of peer pressure Not all parents equally able to exercise choice

New policy spaces or a continuation of old ones? Academies as the new policy space – private sponsors - have role in schools’ governance, staff terms and conditions – publicly-funded private schools YET ‘old’ policy spaces remain A growing centralisation, leading to tension between national and local space Policy driven by needs of capital and demands of knowledge economy, with inadequate recognition of complexity of place Thus, ‘in relation to social class the more things change the more they stay the same’ (Reay, 2003)