Last week, the Secret Teacher spoke about how inspections may not necessarily reflect what happens at a school all year round.
Today they talk about how inspections can benefit teachers as well as pupils.
Having a clear outcome intended for every lesson, with the kids understanding what is required for them to be successful, just makes sense. I feel confident that I’m consistent with that.
Like every teacher, some of my lessons with the best will in the world are stinkers, and you can’t always predict when that’s going to happen.
I’m in that position now where I don’t really give anxiety any time of day, simply because I don’t have anything to hide. Having said that, I do sympathise with the newer teachers, the probationers in the school who are not going to be exempt from being watched just because they’re in their first full-time gig. I feel for them. That’s a nerve-wracking thought.
I can have a very fragile ego, so if I get constructive feedback my natural human response will be to jump on the defensive, but I’m much better at rationalising that now before it comes to the surface.
I think it’s what makes me human that if my boss or an inspector says ‘listen, I’ve got some constructive feedback for you’, there will be part of me, however hidden, that has a sinking-heart feeling.
But I’m a grown up, I can rationalise it, and I know it comes from the same place that I come from. They’re not doing this to get at me. It’s all about the kids, and giving them the best experience, and it’s not personal.
Every detail of that inspection report, warts and all, is publicly available. Anyone can read it. If you’re a parent, you could be looking at it and saying ‘well, they say that you’re not consistent in your learning and teaching. What’s the school doing to address that?’.
The Secret Teacher | The one thing schools get caught out with during inspections
I think that alone would be enough pressure. You can’t bank on the parents being complacent. If the inspection hasn’t gone well, they’ll want to know what’s going to be done about it.
At least every five years, there should be a short-form, completely unannounced, unexpected inspection, like you would have in food retail. You could even say to the school ‘listen, you’ve had your main inspection and you had two weeks' notice. At some point over the next year, there is going to be an unannounced visit. There will be no tip-offs’.
I’m not going to enjoy the stress, but it could make me a better teacher and give the kids a better, more consistent experience. In terms of the leadership of schools, that accountability should be consistent, and they shouldn’t just be sweeping things under the rug.
What also needs to happen to support that is that the Working Time Agreement needs to be a real thing. Workload needs to be managed effectively, and more funding needs to go into schools so that they don’t have to decide between paying for paper and pencils as we’ve done recently, and deciding whether or not they can pay staff for supported study.
School inspections should be unexpected and unannounced – for the teacher's sake
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31.10.2023
Last week, the Secret Teacher spoke about how inspections may not necessarily reflect what happens at a school all year round.
Today they talk about how inspections can benefit teachers as well as pupils.
Having a clear outcome intended for every lesson, with the kids understanding what is required for them to be successful, just makes sense. I feel confident that I’m consistent with that.
Like every teacher, some of my lessons with the best will in the world are stinkers, and you can’t always predict when that’s going to happen.
I’m in that position now where I don’t really give anxiety any time of day, simply because I don’t have anything to hide. Having said that, I do sympathise with the newer teachers, the probationers in the school........
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