Today, the US will witness the final stage of the transition from the dignified leadership of Barack Obama to the somewhat more combative approach of his successor as president, Donald Trump.
In the same month, Ofsted has started moving in the opposite direction. After five years under Sir Michael Wilshaw, the self-styled Dirty Harry of education whose time as chief inspector was dominated by his colourful comments on all things educational - not least, FE - Amanda Spielman has taken the top job.
Ms Spielman’s approach is more low-key - so much so, in fact, that MPs criticised her lack of “passion”. She is certainly seen as a safe pair of hands. “I have to be very careful in random expression of my views,” she told TES last week. For a sector too often on the wrong end of Sir Michael’s barbed comments, it’s a message that will be welcome.
Dear Ms Spielman...
A thawing of relations can be detected in the open letter by Frank Coffield. The emeritus professor at the UCL Institute of Education is known for his outspoken views on many facets of education - including Ofsted. In 2015, he described its “much-vaunted independence” as a “joke”, and proclaimed that the watchdog was a waste of its £156 million budget.
But, addressing Ms Spielman, Professor Coffield’s tone is more conciliatory (well, as conciliatory as a call for an end to the “Gradgrind approach to inspection” in which “managers feel forced to manipulate data in attempts to second-guess Ofsted’s ever-changing demands” can be).
Professor Coffield suggests several changes, which, he argues, would transform Ofsted from a “punitive arm of government into a force for good”.
There has certainly been a shift in approach at the inspectorate in recent years, with national director for education Sean Harford keen to hold a dialogue with the profession via Twitter. And Paul Joyce, the deputy director responsible for FE, deserves credit for engaging with the sector, not least by regularly meeting with UKFEchat representatives.
As Professor Coffield puts it, the opportunity is there for Ms Spielman to “engage and build” on the goodwill of the profession. If she does this, there’s a good chance she will outlast president Trump.
@stephenexley
