Farewell to the tick box inspector? Ofsted and the changing regime of school inspection in England

Since its inception in 1992 Ofsted (The Office for Standards in Education, Children’s Services and Skills) has inspected schools under Section 9 of the Education (Schools) Act 1992; Section 10 of the School Inspections Act 1996; and Section 5 of the Education Act 2005. Pressure on England to improve its system of education has not only emerged from the national need for all schools to serve their pupils well, but has also been prompted by an increasing emphasis on international league tables such as that produced by the OECD (Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development). In tables such as the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA), England is viewed as underperforming against comparable countries. As a result, Ofsted has introduced what the agency terms to be one of the most stringent and demanding inspection frameworks since its inception. This framework reduces the previous 29 inspection judgements to just four, purportedly placing a far greater emphasis on the professional judgement of the inspector and representing a major departure from the ‘tick box’ approach which characterised previous frameworks. This paper examines the paradoxical fate of inspector professional judgement and concludes that whilst this may appear to signal a rapprochement between inspectors and teaching profession, there are considerable tensions when professional judgement is considered alongside quality control within a highly complex system. The study concludes that in order that inspection attains credibility as a method by which to govern education, this shift requires a more considered approach to ways in which this professional judgement can be effective within the challenging environment of the English education system.     

治理理论视域下教育政策执行滞后问题的思考

教育政策执行滞后问题是教育政策执行过程中由于各种因素综合作用产生的非正常状态,对于教育政策目标实现、教育政策问题有效解决具有严重负面影响,大大地降低了教育政策的绩效。在综合分析了教育政策执行滞后的诱发因素的基础上,基于治理理论提出了相应的教育政策执行滞后问题的消解策略。     

Behaviour change policy agendas for ‘vulnerable’ subjectivities: the dangers of therapeutic governance and its new entrepreneurs

Apocalyptic crisis discourses of mental health problems and psycho-emotional dysfunction are integral to behaviour change agendas across seemingly different policy arenas. Bringing these agendas together opens up new theoretical and empirical lines of enquiry about the symbioses and contradictions surrounding the human subjects they target. The paper explores the relationship between behaviour change policy, enduring philosophical and political scepticism about the viability of the rational, autonomous subject of liberal and neoliberal governance, and the contemporary cultural privileging of its vulnerable, anxious and stressed counterpart. Weber’s accounts of authority illuminate dangers arising from an ad hoc, shifting, unaccountable state-sponsored intervention market that targets the vulnerable subject, proselytised by new types of ‘therapeutic entrepreneurs’. Using an education-based example of statutory legislation for counter-terrorism in schools and universities, the Prevent strategy, the paper argues that jettisoning the rational, liberal subject has extremely worrying implications for education and democracy. It concludes with questions about the implications of these under-researched cultural and political phenomena for assumptions about the subjects of governance.     

中国共产党执政方式改革和完善的逻辑起点论析

中国共产党执政方式改革和完善的逻辑起点是民主执政。因为民主政治已成为确保人类社会健康发展的有效稳定器,它是维护“政治合法性”的最有效途径;民主执政既是科学执政、依法执政的目的,又是科学执政、依法执政的基础、前提和保证。     

完善网络政治参与 提升民主执政能力

公民的政治参与要求与强化执政党的权威之间经常会构成一对矛盾,公民的参政要求有时会出现某种阻滞,解决这个矛盾的重要途径之一,即利用网络来了解民意和引导民意,通过民主执政的方式推进公民有序的政治参与,把政治参与和民主执政有机统一起来,提升执政党的民主执政能力。     

Effective Legislative Advocacy: Policy Experts’ Advice for Educators

Educators and policy makers often lack the ability to work together to address issues facing schools. For this multiple case study, three educators who advocate regularly at the local, state, and national levels were asked by the researcher to offer advice for influencing legislative change. The findings suggest that educators interested in advocacy should use personal strengths and interests to advocate, focus on one issue and one level of government, and build professional relationships with policy makers and constituents.     

试论社会主义政治文明建设

社会主义政治文明的提出是人类文明发展史上的重大理论创新 ,是“三个代表”重要思想的内在要求。中国社会主义政治文明建设必须坚持中国共产党的领导 ,发展社会主义民主政治 ,以先进文化为重要依托     

从政治发展理论到民主巩固理论:西方民主化研究的演进逻辑

民主巩固理论是当代西方政治学研究的重要主题,它与政治发展理论、政治转型理论有紧密的联系,这三个理论共同构成了民主化研究的理论基础.从政治发展理论到民主巩固理论实质上也揭示了政治理论发展的演进逻辑:理论的发展是前后相继的,它们在研究主题、研究途径和研究目的上具有一致性;同时,理论变迁的动力主要源于政治世界的变化和新的研究途径的兴起.对理论发展的探究有利于准确把握政治理论的内涵,为进一步评析和运用政治理论有重要的规范性价值和意义.     

党的执政方式与社会主义政治文明建设

党的十六届四中全会提出的科学执政、民主执政、依法执政的执政方式,体现了现阶段我国社会主义政治文明建设的基本内涵和本质要求;加强党的执政能力建设,努力探索、不断完善科学执政、民主执政、依法执政的执政方式,是进一步推动我国社会主义政治文明建设的根本保障。     

试论人民民主专政理论政治认同构建的时代意义

人民民主专政理论的政治认同构建,其政治民主化的价值取向,人民当家作主的理念,共产党领导的合法性来源是人民群众信任和拥护的政治原则,立国之本的政治功能,充分表明了人民民主专政理论是中国共产党人对科学社会主义理论的重大贡献和发展,为中国特色社会主义奠定了坚实的政治认同基础,对坚持中国特色社会主义道路自信、制度自信、理论自信有着十分重要的时代意义。     

重视和加强教育领导学的研究

教育领导就是确定教育组织的发展方向与共同愿景,对全体成员施加积极的影响,使其积极主动地为实现组织目标而努力工作的过程与活动。带领、指导、教育、劝说和激励等是施加影响的重要手段。教育领导学是研究与提高教育领导活动的合理性、科学性和有效性相关的一般性的主要的领导问题的理论体系。我国的教育领导学研究应主要包括学科性质、基本要领领导行为、领导能力等内容,并且要采取适当的措施,加强教育领导学的学科建设与推广工作。     

State Employees Versus the Religious Right: A Case Study of Grassroots Lobbying for Children

This qualitative case study focused on a conflict which arose between two child advocacy groups in 1993 in North Carolina. One group consisted of nurses, social workers, and public school teachers and administrators; the other group consisted of ministers and church day care providers. At stake was a legislative initiative, Smart Start, which would fund 20 model day care centers in the state, reduce staff-to-child ratios in day care centers, and increase child immunizations. This study was based on participant/observation, interview, and document review; it chronicled the conflict and highlighted group tactics.     

A sociological analysis of Australia’s NAPLAN and My School Senate Inquiry submissions: the adultification of childhood?

Growing consensus in popular and academic commentary suggests the lived reality of Western childhood differs considerably from its dominant cultural construction as an innocent period free from adult responsibilities. Sociologically, this disjuncture is conceptualised as adultification. Adopting a critical theoretical lens, we question if Australian high-stakes standardised testing and reporting, National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) and My School, evidences adultification of childhood experience in primary and secondary schools. Qualitative critical analysis of 270 submissions to NAPLAN’s 2010 Senate Inquiry demonstrates adultification in Australian schools, with children subjected to developmentally inappropriate expectations, pressure, stress and precocious knowledge in response to NAPLAN testing and reporting. Adultification, we argue, is a side-effect of individualisation, managerialism and neo-liberal government policy played out in Australian schools and exposing children to the harsh realities of political, economic and social life. De-politicalisation and de-marketisation of children is argued as urgently needed to foreground a critically considered ‘best practice’ when promoting or measuring educational progress and performance.