Memorandum submitted by the Association
for Tutors in Science Education
The Association for Tutors in Science Education (ATSE)
welcomes the opportunity to respond to the Education Committee
consultation on the role and performance of Ofsted.
The Association for Tutors in Science Education is
the Initial Teacher Education Committee of the Association of
Science Education which is a membership organisation for the science
teaching profession in the United Kingdom. This response has been
formulated in consultation with the ASE and members of the ATSE
committee who have all been or are currently working in Science
Teacher Education in the UK.
As a member organisation of the ASE, ATSE members
have also contributed to, and support, the response from ASE which
is included in the Appendix.[175]
What the purposes of inspection should be (relating
not only to schools but to all organisations, settings and services
under Ofsted's remit)
ATSE believes the purposes of inspection within Initial
Teacher Education should be to:
1. Help organisations to improve practice through
formative evaluation rather than summative judgements.
2. Support self evaluation as a tool for improvement
such that good practice is shared across the community since Ofsted
has the privileged position of having an overview of practice
in all ITE organisations.
3. Support the science education of trainees
within the organisation through emphasising the development
of subject knowledge for teaching as well as subject
knowledge per se.
4. Provide an independent quality assurance mechanism
so that post ofsted inspection, in order that practice can be
improved, CPD for staff is emphasised.
5. Emphasise that a high quality science education
can only be provided where ITE staff are supported by their departments
in engaging in research and scholarly activity.
6. Provide an independent quality assurance mechanism
that can help raise the value of education departments in universities,
all too often tutors in education departments and particularly
within science education are undervalued and over worked with
little time for professional self development- universities should
be helped by Ofsted to reconsider the 'contact' hours allocated
to tutors so that it is commensurate with staff in other departments.
The impact of the inspection process on school
improvement
ATSE believes that
1. Whilst the inspection process has improved
significantly in recent years ( as 2008 onward there has been
greater emphasis placed on an organisation's self evaluation)
, Ofsted could support organisations in their development of school
based training models by sharing the good practice that is seen
in schools partnerships in different ITE providers. One suggestion
is that Ofsted lead in the formation of Cluster organisations
so that good practice, as witnessed by Oftsed can be disseminated.
2. Whilst the process of inspection exposes and
publicises weakness in practice and provision institutions tend
to 'play safe' with regard to the school based training elements
of initial teacher education. Ofsted needs to realign its practice
to emphasis the benefits of 'different ways of getting to the
same end point' which should be organisational improvement. Such
emphasis should be made public and where organisations have collaborated
to improve practice in school based training elements these organisations
should be highlighted and lauded by Ofsted.
The performance of Ofsted in carrying out its
work
ATSE believes that performance is
1. Quite variable and is in most instances dependent
on the team that is allocated.
2. Greatly variable in the style that is adopted
by the team leader and consequently the relationships that are
built with those being inspected.
3. Science is a core subject in primary education
but compared with the other core subjects, mathematics and English,
fewer primary schools are visited in preparing primary science
subject reports. We recommend that all core subjects are treated
equally in terms of inspections and consequent reporting.
The consistency and quality of inspection teams
in the Ofsted inspection process
ATSE believes that science tutors and those they
work with in partnership schools
1. Have an expectation that subject inspectors
to be experienced and interested subject enthusiasts, and for
science this seems to be generally the case.
2. Have had inspection teams whose interpretation
of the inspection framework differs markedly from that expected.
Where this has happened, workplace stress has been experienced
by those being inspected.
The weight given to different factors within the
inspection process
ATSE believe that
1. At times it is not always possible for those
being inspected to show case their best practice since there is
little choice when inspection occurs thus institutions do not
have the opportunity to show what they are most proud of since
it may not occur during the weeks when Ofsted are in.
2. That there should be greater weighting during
inspections of ITE in science on how well the institution emphasises
the critical engagement of trainees for teaching science.
Inspections might benefit much more by looking for example
of how institutions engage, inspire, create and innovate rather
than just looking for compliance and coverage. We recognise the
latter are important but not at the expense of the former.
3. One of the greatest dangers of the inspection
process is the disproportionate weighting given to certain factors.
The best inspection teams ensure that they listen carefully to
those being inspected and that they cover all aspects and examine
carefully the contexts prior to passing judgement. It is vital
that the whole picture is taken into consideration.
4. Limiting judgements do cause issues. Some
very effective organisations are deemed merely satisfactory overall
because of a limiting judgement.
5. Since the 2009 framework, there have been
some harsh safeguarding judgements within school and initial teacher
education settings.
Whether inspection of all organisations, settings
and services to support children's learning and welfare is best
conducted by a single inspectorate
ATSE believe that
1. There is some value in having a single "evaluation"
body since "good practice" in the different settings
and services of education maybe shared across phases or where
it is not deemed as being so 'good' can be put into perspective.
This may be easier for the inspectorate and fairer for those being
inspected.
2. Greater validity and reliability of Ofsted
outcomes may be ensured if conducted by a single body across all
settings and services.
The role of Ofsted in providing an accountability
mechanism for schools operating with greater autonomy
ATSE believes that
1. As school/institutional leadership and management
greatly dictates the quality of provision it is vital that those
schools now being allowed to exercise greater autonomy undergo
inspection too. Even those schools deemed outstanding on one occasion
should be inspected since leadership can change and so consistency
of performance may be affected.
2. It would be useful if Ofsted were to adopt
the kind of role previously adopted by LEA inspectorate, to advise,
support and celebrate rather than the accountability role they
currently have.
October 2010
175 Not published here. See separate memorandum on
the Committee's website. Back
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