Does Ofsted Matter? Observations and Beyond

FOTHERGILL ROOM

Mal CowgillPrincipal of Central College, Nottingham

Does Ofsted Matter?Observations and Beyond

NORTH OF ENGLAND EDUCATION CONFERENCE

DOES OFSTED MATTER?

15 JANUARY 2014

WWW.CENTRALNOTTINGHAM.AC.UK

Agenda

• My Experience over the last 20 years

• View as an FE Principal, a Parent and as an Academy Sponsor

• Relevance to Further Education

• The current dilemma

• Summary

Personal Experience

• I think there needs to be an inspection regime with teeth

• View formed by six inspections – mainly good experiences

• Frustration - the approach and more recently the framework:o Ofsted doesn’t do Politics…….o No give even when perceived to be wrong – won’t or can’to Tick box QA approach to quality in a people environment TQMo Current FE experience at highest levels – context is everythingo Don’t have the tools or resources to inspect FEo No consistency across FE inspections……..

• I

Principal, Parent & Sponsor

• Principal: lack of consistency based on less standard offer• National averages??• Don’t publish College SSRs• Lesson Observations – outcomes are a secret

• Parent: Requires Improvement single grade – meaning?• What is Raise online??• Not interested in School performance but George’s• Glad I’m not subject to Ofsted

• Sponsor – best because Schools are easier to understand• Although the pupils are not• Context isn’t judged as there isn’t time or resources• Reinforcing views based on data

• I

Relevance to FE

• Consistency – national framework, national averages, Nottingham students

• Context is everything – no room in inspection regime – my way or no way

• Culture driven by fear – one way but not the only way

• Confidence in the system – don’t make it easy to undermine

• Challenge - and be damned, what happened to rigorous debate

• I

The Current Dilemma

• A fit for purpose inspection regime is even more essential now

• So that the system gives me as a:• Parent - Drive out the lazy and the incompetent• Principal – Make the approach relevant and competent to inspect FE• Sponsor – Become part of the solution

• Don’t let a rigid approach spoil the contribution:• Like the Boy who cried wolf – loose their relevance and value• Can everyone really be above national average• Acting like unhelpful consultants• Measure of good too narrow and data obsessed• Limiting Grades

• I

Summary

• Ofsted has some outstanding features – its platform is one

• Remember why we are here – to educate young people to inspire them and to produce well rounded individuals who contribute to society

• Picking up the pieces – no quick fixes

• Parents or lack of…. Glad I’m not subject to Ofsted inspection

• If Ofsted didn’t exist would you invent it – yes but slightly different

• I

Does Ofsted Matter? Observations and Beyond

Matthew CoffeyNational Director for FE and Skills at Ofsted

Does Ofsted Matter?Observations and Beyond

Does Ofsted Matter? Observations and Beyond

Dr Jean KellyDirector of Professional Development

at the Institute for Learning

Does Ofsted Matter?Observations and Beyond

Institute for LearningDoes Ofsted Matter? IfL members’ views and guide for practitioners

Jean Kelly 15.01.14

IfL Ofsted Survey 2013• ‘Inspection can produce extreme anxiety about

teaching ‘performance’ • ‘Inspection can undermine confidence in

teaching and learning choices’• ‘Inspection can produce unreal expectations of

what is being inspected’• ‘Inspection can diminish a sense of

professionalism’…

A practitioner’s guide: don’ts• ‘Don’t think you have to be perfect – be yourself’

• ‘Don’t give inspection a greater authority than it has – you are equals committed to improvement’

• ‘Don’t let the anxiety of managers get to you – talk to others about your concerns/plans’

• ‘Don’t think – I must play safe at all costs – this will lead to dull sessions and puzzled learners’

A practitioner’s guide: do’s• ‘Do feel assertive and confident in your practice-

you know your learners better than anyone’ • ‘Do talk with your learners about the impact of

observation on a session’• ‘Do talk to your colleagues and share your

rationale for choices of content and method’• ‘Do practice giving a two-minute summary of

your own evaluation of a session’

What does matter?

What does matter to IfL members is continual improvement in the quality and the impact of their teaching • on their learners – as a trusted and excellent

dual professional• on their colleagues – sharing what works and

what doesn’t through action research• on their institution – pride in developing an

excellent learning organisation

Does Ofsted Matter? Observations and Beyond

Dr Matt O’LearyDirector of Professional Development

at the Institute for Learning

Does Ofsted Matter?Observations and Beyond

‘Does Ofsted matter? Observations and Beyond’

Dr Matt O’LearyCRADLE

University of Wolverhampton

Email: moleary@wlv.ac.uk Twitter: https://twitter.com/drmattoleary

Academia: http://wlv.academia.edu/MattOLeary

CRADLECentre for Research &

Development in Lifelong Education

Does Ofsted matter?• Continuous monitoring of standards and

accountability in education is ESSENTIAL but what form should it take?

• Have the last 12 years of inspections (Ofsted & ALI) contributed to improvements across the FE sector?

• Have performative models of assessment and improvement reached their threshold? (O’Leary & Brooks 2013)

CRADLECentre for Research &

Development in Lifelong Education

Does Ofsted matter?• Current Ofsted Inspection Framework:1. Relies on a reductive approach to

measuring standards; 2. Is underpinned by a low-trust, deficit-

based model of assessment; 3. Provokes an ongoing culture of

surveillance, coercion and fear amongst providers, which often leads to game playing etc

Does Ofsted matter?Key Questions for Ofsted to answer• Why doesn’t Ofsted spend more time working with

the sector to improve provision rather than simply trying to measure it?

• In light of recent research highlighting the flaws of graded observations, why does Ofsted still advocate this practice across the sector?

• What is the role of the sector’s professional standards in the inspection process?

• Does Ofsted have a role in a de-regulated sector?

CRADLECentre for Research &

Development in Lifelong Education

Does Ofsted matter?Alternative ways forward• Need to rediscover ‘Intelligent accountability’ • Increased self-regulation – need to empower the

teaching profession with greater control over self-evaluation and professional autonomy for continuous improvement

• Need to move towards an evaluation model of ‘fitness to practice’ (i.e. pass/fail) rather than this spurious 4-point scale that is neither valid nor reliable

CRADLECentre for Research &

Development in Lifelong Education

Does Ofsted Matter? Observations and Beyond