Access to Education and Equqlity of Opportunity

Access to education and equality of opportunity This essay will look at wether access to education and training is instrumental in promoting equality of opportunity in today’s Australia. The discussion will start with a description of the role of education and training in our society, it will continue with the identification of various social groups and the factors influencing their access to education in all its forms. Current policies will also be examined and commented on and it will look at ways that the community can support disadvantaged groups to move towards a greater equality of opportunity. The essay will conclude with a list of recommendations that could enable greater equality of opportunity in our society. The role of education in society can basically be divided into two main ideologies. The first and perhaps the oldest ideology or theory is termed the “Reproductive Theory”, this has long been promoted by the “establishment” as a way of ensuring that everyone knows their place in society and the “Status Quo” is perpetuated. Bowles and Gintis (1976) proposed a more up to date version, known as the “Correspondence theory”, this advocates that there is a “relationship between the nature of work and the education system in any Capitalist society.” Basically the theory says that the major task of any Capitalist education system is to train people so that they fulfil the needs of the production process. In this respect, Bowles and Gintis (1976) “show how various aspects of economic production (work) have corresponding features in the education system. In basic terms, the organisation of the education system explicitly mirrors the way work is organised in Capitalist societies.” The second theory is based on the concept of “Meritocracy” which is defined by Lawson and Garrod (2003) in the following way “A social system in which rewards and occupational positions are allocated justly on the basis of merit, rather than ascriptive factors such as

References: Argy, F. (2006), Equality of Opportunity, Leveling the Playing Field. The Australia Institute (Discussion paper no. 85) Australian Electoral Commission (AEC) http://www.aec.gov.au/Voting/indigenous_vote/indigenous.htm Bowles, S. & Gintis, H. (1976), Schooling in Capitalist America: Education Reform and the Contradictions of Economic Life, Basic Books, N.Y. Carl Rogers, C. (1969), Freedom To Learn, Ohio, Charles Merrill Publishing. Douthat, R. (2005) Does Meritocracy Work? November ATLANTIC MAGAZINE Dowling, A Purpel, D. (1989), The Moral and Spiritual Crisis in Education: A Curriculum for Justice and Compassion in Education, Massachusetts, Bergin and Garvey Publishers. Steering Committee for the Review of Government Service provision. (2009), Overcoming Indigenous Disadvantages.