Lesson observations have long formed a key part of Ofsted inspections: they represent the difference between judging a school on its data and actually paying a visit.
But, after researching how to conduct effective observations in schools, a leading educational psychologist has concluded that Ofsted’s approach is open to “prejudices and partialities” and leaves the inspectorate in “the dark ages”.
Brian Apter is concerned that Ofsted does not issue its inspectors with a checklist of behaviours to track during lessons.
He says that, without adopting a uniform methodical approach, the watchdog’s observations are vulnerable to bias and inaccuracy, and its inspection reports reliant on “second-hand information” and guesswork.
His findings have prompted teaching unions to express renewed concerns about Ofsted’s approach to inspection.
“There’s a place for systemised structure in observation of classrooms,” Apter, a Cardiff University-based researcher, says. “If you don’t have that, then you’re open to masses of prejudices and partialities.
“The only way you can protect a school from an inexperienced Ofsted team is by giving them a very robust method.”
Rosamund McNeil, head of education at the NUT teachers’ union, says: “Because they’re so driven by data and numbers, sometimes inspectors do go into schools with fixed ideas in their heads.
“We need consistency in inspections. It’s important that inspectors are measuring the right things. At the moment, inspectors are too narrowly focused on the numbers.”
Levelling the playing field
And Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, agrees that Apter is asking important questions. “He’s on to something,” he says. “Inspectors spend pretty minimal time in lessons.”
Apter is chairman of the British Psychological Society’s division of educational and child psychology, but conducted his research into lesson observation in an independent capacity.
He believes that the only way to avoid inaccurate and partial inspections is to have a systematic method of lesson observation. Inspectors would all have the same checklist of teacher and pupil behaviours to observe, including teacher tone, teacher volume and the time the teacher spends speaking.
Stephen Gorard, professor of education and public policy at Durham University, agrees. “It’s clear that observations can be biased by the contexts in which they take place,” he says. “That’s just human nature, isn’t it? If there were a clear checklist, the advantage would be that you’re able to get an unbiased reading. The checklist would have to cope with variation, but be systematic enough to overcome bias.”
Ofsted has confirmed that it has no checklist for lessons. It says that all guidance on observation is contained in its school-inspection handbook. But the handbook’s only advice on how lesson observations should be conducted is: “Inspectors may engage in…observing learning in lessons, during which they may observe activities, talk with pupils about their work and scrutinise pupils’ work.”
A spokesperson for the watchdog says: “Inspectors will collect information about the quality of teaching, learning and assessment in lessons and from other learning activities. They will also look at workbooks and talk to pupils to gauge their level of understanding and learning.”
But Apter’s study of classroom observation in 28 secondaries led him to conclude that Ofsted’s method is subject to the psychological principle of confirmation bias: the tendency to interpret new evidence as confirmation of pre-existing beliefs.
Inevitably, he says, inspectors’ lesson observations simply confirm everything that they already believe to be true about a school.
“Without looking at actual behaviour in an actual classroom in a measurable way, I think all Ofsted is going on is a mixture of second-hand opinion and the school’s best guess,” Apter says. “It’s not accurate. It’s just not accurate.
“To me, it’s the dark ages of school observation and lesson observation.”
Gorard believes that confirmation bias could explain why schools with large numbers of pupils on free school meals are less likely to get “good” or “outstanding” Ofsted grades than those with advantaged intakes.
Apter’s model would involve inspectors spending 15 or 20 minutes in a lesson, and making checklist notes on these elements of behaviour approximately every two minutes.
This, he believes, would provide inspectors with a set of observations that could be empirically measured, and compared with any other lesson observation. “Basically, you’re making your observations much more reliable,” he says. “You’re measuring like against like.”
McNeil believes it is vital that inspectors know what to look for in a classroom. “When they’re in a classroom, we’re hoping that they’re gathering a wide range of evidence,” she says. “They need to be looking at a range of things. Are young people engaged in lessons? What’s the quality of teaching in the lesson?”
But Barton is wary of introducing more checklists into schools. “A ticklist suggests that teaching is something that can be reduced to a series of skills, and it isn’t,” he says.
“In my view, it’s time to stop any formal observations, and instead to look at how the school develops a culture for improving teaching, and how it retains good teachers.”
Ofsted points out that all its inspectors undergo rigorous training programmes to ensure that they understand the inspection framework, and are able to make consistent and reliable decisions.
“All inspection findings and ratings are quality-insured by other inspectors before they are finalised, to make sure that they are firmly based on evidence,” the spokesperson says. She adds that the inspectorate is considering the role of lesson observation as part of its development of a new framework for September 2019.
However, Mary Bousted, general secretary of the ATL teaching union, questions what inspectors hope to achieve during lesson observations. “Michael Wilshaw said that there was no preferred way of teaching,” she says, referring to the former chief inspector, who retired from the post last year. “My question is: well, what are you there for, then? If Ofsted has no conception of what effective teaching and learning is, what’s the point?”
