A teaching union has said pupils are wrongly being used to interview prospective teachers and give feedback on how well they perform in class. Should students be involved in the selection process? The concept of student voice was developed in the early 1990s as a way of allowing pupils to participate in school decision making. The NASUWT union says involving pupils in making judgements about the suitability for posts and competence in the classroom is unacceptable. It also says the system is being abused by head teachers seeking legitimacy for their arguments. But the Association of School and College Leaders general secretary, Dr John Dunford, says students are very astute at “articulating what works well and how weaker areas could be improved in the classroom” and it is useful to have students views about interviewees. How far should student participation go? How should pupils participate in decision making? Are you a teacher, a parent or a student? What are your experiences of student voice? This article is from the BBC News website . © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
April 3, 2010 | Posted in
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Pupils are wrongly being used to interview prospective teachers and give feedback on how well they perform in class, a teaching union says. The NASUWT teaching union says attempts to give pupils a voice in their school are also being abused by head teachers seeking legitimacy for their arguments. The union will debate at its annual conference a motion calling for industrial action over the issue. But head teachers say student involvement can be very effective. The concept of the student voice was developed in the early 1990s as a way of allowing pupils to participate in aspects of school decision making. The argument was that students with a greater involvement in their school community were better motivated to learn. But a paper being discussed at the NASUWT conference in Birmingham suggests steps to improve student voice in some schools have gone too far. It reveals that schools are using pupils to answer questions about teachers’ competence and to help interview them for promotions, which the union says is unacceptable. NASUWT general secretary Chris Keates said the dossier was “littered with examples of demeaning, embarrassing and humiliating practice”. Many were grossly unprofessional and stripped teachers of their professional dignity, she said. “To be effective in their roles teachers need to feel confident and empowered to act with authority. “Involving pupils directly in making judgments about the suitability for posts and competence in the classroom places these considerations in jeopardy.” Ms Keates added: “It is clear that too many schools are engaging not in student voice but in the manipulation of children and young people to serve the interests of school management and its perspective.” ‘Astute’ Association of School and College Leaders general secretary Dr John Dunford said schools and colleges had put a great deal of effort into actively involving students, especially in identifying and addressing areas for improvement. “This can be through regular surveys of student opinion, student councils, whole-school consultations on specific issues, student interview panels and even lesson observations.” “Students are very astute, sometimes surprisingly so, at articulating what works well and how weaker areas could be improved, especially in the classroom. “Schools and colleges that involve students in giving formal feedback to adults, whether through interviews or lesson observations, have a responsibility to ensure that students and staff receive training and are clear about the process but when it is done well it can be incredibly effective.” “It is particularly useful to have student views about interviewees for teaching, student support, and senior leadership posts. “Candidates who can’t convince the students are unlikely to be very effective if appointed.” This article is from the BBC News website . © British Broadcasting Corporation, The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites.
April 2, 2010 | Posted in
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More schools are being judged inadequate under a new inspection regime, figures from England’s schools watchdog Ofsted show. Half of the 2140 schools inspected in the autumn were found to be either satisfactory or inadequate. The proportion of schools classed as inadequate has more than doubled to 10% , compared with 4% in the 2008/2009 inspection period. Schools now have to achieve higher results to be good or outstanding. The watchdog has insisted its new-style inspections would “raise the bar” on its expectations of schools. Only 9% of schools have been given the top rating of outstanding – compared with 19% of those inspected in the academic year of 2008/9. A total of 40% of the schools inspected were marked down as satisfactory. A spokesman for Ofsted has said: “We have made it clear that every time an inspection framework is revised, expectations are raised too.” But John Dunford, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, told BBC News: “I don’t think it [Ofsted] is serving parents very well in the comparative views it is providing.” Opinion divided Chris Richardson, head teacher at the Kings of Wessex School in Somerset, said the new inspection framework brought “significant improvements”, particularly a sharper focus on student achievement. “A new self-evaluation form meant we felt well prepared for inspection and it gave the inspectors a good overview of the school. “Our students valued the opportunities to engage with the inspectors and give their perspective on the school.” But John Fairhurst, head of Shenfield High School in Essex, said the new inspection framework had downgraded his school from good with outstanding features to satisfactory, simply because the school’s GCSE results in 2008 were weak. “It’s become a rather skimpy inspection with an altered agenda – heavily data driven,” he said. “The framework proved, in our case, superficial and underestimated the good work of the school.”
March 10, 2010 | Posted in
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More schools are being judged inadequate under a new inspection regime, figures from England’s schools watchdog are expected to show. Ofsted introduced a new framework in September 2009 which requires schools to achieve higher results to be rated as good or outstanding. The watchdog has insisted its new-style inspections would “raise the bar” on its expectations of schools. Data on schools’ performance under the system will be released on Wednesday. Last week the Times Educational Supplement said the new regime had seen a near doubling in the proportion of schools judged “inadequate”, while the proportion rated “outstanding” was less than half of what it used to be. But inspectors said they now had “higher expectations on behalf of pupils and parents”. ” It is no surprise if there is a rise in inadequate schools – it just reflects the fact that the bar has been raised ” Department for Children, Schools and Families A spokesman for Ofsted said: “We have made it clear that every time an inspection framework is revised, expectations are raised too.” Ofsted said the reaction from schools had been “overwhelmingly positive”, with nine out of 10 who had responded to feedback surveys saying they were satisfied with the way inspection was carried out. A spokesman for the Department for Children, Schools and Families said: “We made clear in the schools White Paper last June that inspection from September would be more challenging. “It is no surprise if there is a rise in inadequate schools – it just reflects the fact that the bar has been raised and weaker schools are being inspected earlier in the cycle.” New regime Under the new arrangements, outstanding and good schools are only inspected once within a five-year period – previously it was every three years. Satisfactory schools are inspected every three years and inadequate schools are visited regularly until they make the improvements necessary. The new regime sees inspectors assess twice as many lessons and more emphasis is put on questionnaires filled out by parents and pupils. Inspectors put more emphasis on pupil attainment – a point which has caused controversy, particularly for schools in challenging areas – rather than on improvement. Schools are given two days’ warning of an inspection and the inspections lasts for two days. Ofsted said the new format was introduced in response to teachers’ concerns inspections focused too much on schools data and inspectors did not assess enough lessons. The watchdog said more than 2,000 inspections had been carried out under the new system between September and December last year. Chris Richardson, head teacher at the Kings of Wessex School in Somerset, said the new inspection framework brought “significant improvements”, particularly a sharper focus on student achievement. “A new self-evaluation form meant we felt well prepared for inspection and it gave the inspectors a good overview of the school. “Our students valued the opportunities to engage with the inspectors and give their perspective on the school.” But John Fairhurst, head of Shenfield High School in Essex, said the new inspection framework had downgraded his school from good with outstanding features to satisfactory, simply because the school’s GCSE results in 2008 were weak. “It’s become a rather skimpy inspection with an altered agenda – heavily data driven,” he said. “The framework proved, in our case, superficial and underestimated the good work of the school.” The Association for School and College Leaders and the National Association of Head Teachers are also critical of the regime, saying it puts too much emphasis on raw attainment.
March 10, 2010 | Posted in
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