Ofsted has claimed on many occasions to be a force for improvement. This
book, written by a former HMI and Ofsted inspector, tests this assertion
by exploring how Ofsted has influenced the quality of teaching in
English primary schools.
Helena McVeigh draws on extensive practice as an inspector and
consultant to chart the development of Ofsted and investigate its
influence on primary teaching in England. Following a brief history of
inspection and the genesis of Ofsted, she reflects on the role of Ofsted
handbooks, annual reports, case studies and inspections in relation to
teaching, and shows how their influence has changed over time.
Interviews with HMIs, primary headteachers and teachers, and the
author's own experience, inform an analysis of impact and relationships
that is grounded in the work of Pierre Bourdieu and his concepts of
misrecognition and symbolic violence. In pulling together all the
evidence, the book offers a tension between the acknowledgement of a
positive contribution made by Ofsted to teaching in English schools, and
recognition of less productive impacts such as teacher stress and the
"performativity" of teaching to perceived Ofsted expectations.
