School inspectorates should be prepared to speak “truth to power”, “be brave” and “ruffle feathers from time to time”, Sir Michael Wilshaw this morning told a conference on the future of inspection in Scotland.
The former Ofsted chief inspector said the parameters of the inspectorate in England’s work were “defined by whoever was in power” - and that was right because they are “finally responsible for national standards”.
But he said the schools’ inspectorate should still be prepared to tell “truth to power” on issues such as: how well disadvantaged children are being served by the system; teacher recruitment and retention; and the impact of government initiatives.
He said Ofsted had been “constrained by government in speaking out” in recent years, but that it was important to “ruffle feathers from time to time”.
During his time as chief inspector in England, Sir Michael said he was “very vocal about terrible standards in the North East of England”, and several politicians “took umbrage” - including current education secretary Bridget Phillipson.
Sir Michael, who led Ofsted from 2012 to 2016, said: “A good chief inspector should be brave and not be afraid of what local politicians are saying about standards in their schools. And I think it’s important because it then involves the public in the national debate of where standards are and it draws the attention of government to what should be done.”
His was speaking as the schools inspectorate in Scotland - and other key bodies - are in the middle of a period of reform.
The Scottish government has committed to making the inspectorate an independent body and removing it from Education Scotland, which also has a curriculum improvement function. The Scottish Qualifications Authority is also due to be replaced.
Questions over independence of inspectorate
However, there are concerns that the reforms - to to be implemented in 2025 - will fail to go far enough. One fear is that the inspectorate will remain too close to government.
Barry Black, an education researcher at the University of Glasgow, and Mike Corbett, Scotland national official for the NASUWT teaching union, were also speaking at the conference. They called for Professor Ken Muir’s recommendation that the inspectorate should report to the Scottish Parliament to be taken forward.
Mr Corbett said reporting to Parliament - as opposed to ministers - would “boost the independence” of the inspectorate and remove any sense of “a hidden hand of government or ministers interfering in things”.
To do its job properly, Sir Michael said, the inspectorate must have “status”, “authority” and “credibility”.
An important part of that, he added, was making sure that the right people became inspectors.
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