The former chief inspector of schools, Chris Woodhead, has at last said something with which many heads and teachers might agree. He has accused the National College for School Leadership of preaching “evangelical twaddle,” peddling “new age panaceas” and writing “drivel”. The college’s response? “School leaders value NCSL and more and more of them are connecting with us.” Connecting with us? You couldn’t make it up.
But as students of reverse psychology know, there’s nothing like praise from the wrong person to create a negative effect - as the teachers recommending the educational toy Magstix to their pupils (see p2) discovered. Mr Woodhead’s lip-curling contempt may yet persuade the profession to love its “Sandhurst for heads”.
