User:LBird BASc/sandbox/ATK/Seminar6/Power

/Power in Arts/

Plato put forward the argument that "it is the government which must flow from the education and not education from the government.". Groups in power, their values and subsequent social policies implemented are largely shaped by education (or lack thereof). However, this relationship can be expanded and is, in fact, symbiotic where both educational and political systems exert influences upon each other. The state maintains considerable control over the degree of funding received by institutions and way past events are presented, highlighting its role in the discussion of policies surrounding education. Education itself is a social process by which children are shaped in accordance to concerns.

Different classes are still being educated for different societal functions. The Free School Movement has increased segregation and polarisation for working-class children, with fewer children being educated in receipt of free meals. Those on free meals and receiving pupil premium are 27% less likely to achieve five or more A*-C GCSEs. In addition to this, such students are typically taught in schools highly populated with immigrant or disadvantaged students, forming clusters of low-achieving schools.

Pupils in working-class comprehensives get less money per head. Even when in the same schools as middle-class children, they are in lower sets with less experienced teachers. Teacher turnover also tends to be higher in such schools. Interviews conducted also revealed that working-class children had a sense of where they were in the academic hierarchy.

Where it might be more difficult for those who have benefitted from educational systems to larger extents to make reforms on the basis of being able to empathise, wider class differentials in future and social educational policies might exist. Opportunities in education largely determine an individual’s ability to construct effective arguments and bring about effective changes. Limited early opportunities for working-class children reduce the likelihood of them being able to make future reformations towards bringing about more level playing fields in respect to education.