Education system sets the seal on society’s inequality

WITH the recent publication of school performance league tables, it’s important to understand what they really tell us – and what they don’t.

Inequality begins it birth. Education simply formalises the gap.

Whatever postcode you can afford to live in will largely determine which school you will go to. The quality of education on offer (and by that, I mean the demands placed on time, resources, and teachers and not the quality of teaching itself ) varies along lines of affluence and poverty – producing the educational attainment gap.

While a decent education can be a decisive factor in a child’s life, the true determinant of their success often lies in their early years. Before a child even begins to learn formally, their core capacities may already be largely shaped by their upbringing, which is itself shaped significantly by the social position of their parents.

That means kids from wealthier backgrounds often arrive at school with clear advantages.

They are likelier to be raised in a dual-income household where the division of parental labour and financial responsibility reduces household stress, allows greater flexibility in planning family time, cash for additional tuition, and greater access to leisure and cultural experiences.

The culmination of these advantages is that by the time they enter the classroom, they often possess a core resilience and selfconfidence which better orientates them in the educational environment – an environment tailored to suit their learning and behavioural needs.

This is why schools in wealthy catchment areas are so coveted. Indeed, great myths have taken root that teaching quality is greater in more affluent areas when, in truth, it’s simply that teaching (and learning) is a little easier.

Wealthier communities deal with less poverty, and so less children with additional learning or behavioural needs, patchy attendances, acts of violence or incidences of alcohol or drug problems.

Their surrounding communities may be less threatening or rundown, which fosters a sense of openness, optimism and security conducive to learning.

Pay attention to which areas the “best” schools are situated in next time performance league tables are published. You may note a link between schools which produce consistently higher grades and postcodes which produce consistently higher house prices.

Today, great lip service is paid to closing the gap between the wealthiest and poorest students. In truth, this gap is an essential mechanism in reproducing the inequalities central to maintaining the upward distribution of opportunity which characterises the British class system.

There are only so many wellalready paid secure jobs. Without an attainment gap safeguarding opportunities, the upper middle classes might actually have to earn their place at the apex of society. We can’t have that.

So should anomalies arise, or in the event a worryingly high number of working class people ascend professions reserved historically for those of higher social castes, the private school system acts as the ultimate safety valve – ensuring that the best jobs go to the “best” people.

Wealthier kids are not inherently smarter. Their parents are not inherently more capable. Affluent children simply benefit from circumstances which allow them to develop optimally and their parents possess the resources to absorb or offset adversities along the way, while their schools are better resourced and placed under less strain than those in poorer areas.

When annual league tables of the “best” schools are published, they are not reflections of the abilities, attitudes, or aspirations of individual pupils, but of the advantages and disadvantages associated with the socioeconomic position of their parents.

We close the gap by first understanding one fundamental truth. Scottish education is not a meritocracy – it’s a parentocracy.