Book contents
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- About the author
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- one The need for a holistic theory of social mobility
- two Social mobility: rising, falling or staying the same
- three Unpicking the political consensus on social mobility
- four Going beyond attainment
- five Unbundling, diversification and the ecological university: new models for higher education
- six The shape of the labour market: hourglass, diamond or molecule?
- seven Social mobility, well-being and class
- eight A new politics of social mobility
- nine Reframing social mobility
- Bibliography
- Index
four - Going beyond attainment
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 01 September 2022
- Frontmatter
- Contents
- List of figures and tables
- About the author
- Acknowledgements
- Introduction
- one The need for a holistic theory of social mobility
- two Social mobility: rising, falling or staying the same
- three Unpicking the political consensus on social mobility
- four Going beyond attainment
- five Unbundling, diversification and the ecological university: new models for higher education
- six The shape of the labour market: hourglass, diamond or molecule?
- seven Social mobility, well-being and class
- eight A new politics of social mobility
- nine Reframing social mobility
- Bibliography
- Index
Summary
The children that are at the schools in Shanghai are doing three years better than children at schools in England.… That’s the reality of the situation. I’ve seen it for myself.… We have stagnated in terms of our maths performance for the last 15 years, while other countries like Germany and Poland have been learning from the East. (Gander 2014)
Zhang Yang, a bright 18-year-old from a rural town in Anhui province in China was accepted to study at a prestigious traditional medicine college in Hefei. But the news was too much for his father Zhang Jiasheng. Zhang’s father was partly paralysed after he suffered a stroke two years ago and could no longer work. He feared the family, already in debt to pay for medicines, would not be able to afford his son’s tuition fees. As his son headed home to celebrate his success, Zhang Jiasheng killed himself by swallowing pesticide. (Sharma 2013)
Introduction
These two quotations highlight the problem faced in developing an educational system that supports these broader (as opposed to narrower) forms of social mobility. China is lauded in the West for its achievements in the international PISA (Programme of International Student Assessment) tests. However, this obsession with attainment comes at a cost for countries such as Korea and China. Nor are those in these countries entirely happy with what their own education systems are doing. Yet they are greatly admired by education policy makers in the UK. Increasingly we now share their obsession, but the idea that England should emulate these countries should be considered carefully.
Academics and politicians both see educational achievement as central to social mobility. Even accepting the doubts outlined in previous chapters regarding the limitations of education in terms of the problems it can solve and the returns it provides, it would be perverse to suggest that improving the attainment of learners from lower socioeconomic groups is not crucial. It would be equally perverse to criticise or ignore the efforts that are going into closing the gaps in attainment between social groups. While the coalition government slowed down investment in education, from 2010 to 2015 it built on Labour’s commitment to reducing attainment gaps through initiatives such as the Pupil Premium, which has allocated funding to every child from a disadvantaged background, and the creation of the Education Endowment Foundation, which works to fund, identify and disseminate innovative, leading practice in work to raise educational attainment.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Success ParadoxWhy We Need a Holistic Theory of Social Mobility, pp. 65 - 84Publisher: Bristol University PressPrint publication year: 2016