Watchdogs or Visionaries?

Ann Keane

Description

This is a ground-breaking history of school and college inspection in Wales. With contributions from two former chief inspectors, two former HMI and leading historians, it offers an authoritative account of how the inspectorate has changed over time. Since their beginnings in 1839, HMI have steered a course between being instruments of the state and independent influencers of education policy and practice. They have been much-valued catalysts for improvement in schools and colleges, and have had a key role in promoting the teaching of the Welsh language, history and culture. This book is written for anyone concerned with the history of education in Wales, the history of accountability in education, with approaches to school improvement, and the extent to which HMI have influenced or been at odds with education policy making. At a time when the inspectorate itself is under review, this is a timely reminder of its wide-ranging services.

Notes on contributors
Preface
Glossary
Introduction - Ann Keane
1 The origins and development of the inspectorate in Wales, 1839–1907 - Russell Grigg
2 Owen Edwards, the Welsh Department and the curriculum, 1907–25 - Ann Keane
3 The inspectorate between 1925 and 1970: responses and reactions - Alun Morgan
4 Inspecting and reporting in a changing educational climate, 1970–92 - Roy James
5 Challenge and transition: the inspectorate in Wales, 1992–2020 - Barry Norris
6 Women in the inspectorate in Wales - Sian Rhiannon Williams
7 Devolution, education policy and inspection in Wales: a policy analysis - David Egan
8 Inspection in Wales and internationally: some comparisons - Russell Grigg and Ann Keane
The future - Ann Keane
Appendix I
The statutory basis of the inspectorate
Appendix II
List of Wales senior or chief inspectors
Appendix III
List of key milestones
Selected bibliography
Index

Sujets

• Histoire
• Great Britain
• History
• Wales
• Europe

Informations

• Publié par: University of Wales Press
• Date de parution: 15 novembre 2022
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781786839411
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 3 Mo

Extrait

WATCHDOGS
or
VISIONARIES?
WoV.indd 1 21/10/2022 15:10:02This page intentionally left blank
WoV.indd 2 21/10/2022 15:10:02WATCHDOGS
or
VISIONARIES?
PERSPECTIVES ON THE HISTORY
OF THE EDUCATION INSPECTORATE
IN WALES
EDITED BY
ANN KEANE
UNIVERSITY OF WALES PRESS
2022
WoV.indd 3 21/10/2022 15:10:02© The Contributors, 2022
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any material
form (including photocopying or storing it in any medium by electronic
means and whether or not transiently or incidentally to some other use of
this publication) without the written permission of the copyright owner
except in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and
Patents Act 1988. Applications for the copyright owner’s written permission
to reproduce any part of this publication should be addressed to the
University of Wales Press, University Registry, King Edward VII Avenue,
Cardif CF10 3NS.
www.uwp.co.uk
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
ISBN 978-1-78683-940-4
eISBN 978-1-78683-941-1
The rights of the Contributors to be identif ed as authors of this work
has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 79 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
The University of Wales Press gratefully acknowledges the funding
support of the Books Council of Wales in publication of this book.
WoV.indd 4 21/10/2022 15:10:02CONTENTS
Notes on Contributors vii
Preface ix
Glossary xi
Introduction 1
Ann Keane
1 Origins and Development of the Inspectorate 21
in Wales, 1839–1907
Russell Grigg
2 Owen Edwards, the Welsh Department and the 47
School Curriculum, 1907–1925
Ann Keane
3 The Inspectorate in Wales between 1925 and 1970: 77
Responses and Reactions
Alun Morgan
4 Inspecting and Reporting in a Changing Educational 103
Climate, 1970–1992
Roy James
5 Challenge and Transition: The Inspectorate in Wales, 131
1992–2020
Barry Norris
6 Women in the Inspectorate in Wales 159
Sian Rhiannon Williams
7 Devolution, Education Policy and Inspection in Wales: 187
A Policy Analysis
David Egan
WoV.indd 5 21/10/2022 15:10:028 Inspection in Wales and Internationally: 205
Some Comparisons
Russell Grigg and Ann Keane
The Future 225
Ann Keane
Appendix I: The Statutory Basis of the Inspectorate 235
Appendix II: List of Senior or Chief Inspectors in Wales 239
Appendix III: List of Key Milestones 241
Select Bibliography 247
Index 259
WoV.indd 6 21/10/2022 15:10:02NOTES ON CONTRIBUTORS
David Egan
David is Emeritus Professor of Education at Cardif Metropolitan
University. His career has moved from teaching history in a
secondary school to leading a large University School of Education and
developing a profle as a policy researcher focused upon the
education system in Wales since devolution.
Russell Grigg
Russell is an education inspector for the Ministry of Education in
the United Arab Emirates, having previously worked for Estyn and
Ofsted. His research interests are in the history of education.
Roy James
Roy taught mathematics in secondary schools before joining HMI
(Wales) in 1970. Since retiring as chief inspector in 1997, he has
undertaken research and consultancy work and has been External
Professor at the University of Glamorgan and Visiting Research
Fellow at the University of Wales Institute Cardif.
Ann Keane
Ann taught in secondary, further and higher education sectors,
in Wales and England, before joining HMI (Wales) in 1984. Since
her retirement as chief inspector in 2015, she has been a Welsh
Government Board member and has undertaken consultancy and
research work.
Alun Morgan
Alun is a native of Merthyr Tydfl and a graduate of UCW Swansea.
He has taught in every phase of education other than primary and
was an HMI in Wales from 1983 to 2011.
WoV.indd 7 21/10/2022 15:10:02viii Notes on Contributors
Barry Norris
Barry started his career in education as an English and drama
teacher. He was an HMI in Wales from 1991 to 2020 and led many
inspections across pre-16 and post-16 sectors. He was Estyn’s lead
ofcer for inspection policy until his retirement in 2020 and lead or quality assurance from 2010 to 2018.
Sian Rhiannon Williams
A former Senior Lecturer at Cardif Metropolitan University, Sian
has published on various aspects of social and women’s history
in Wales. She is co-editor of the Gender Studies in Wales series
(UWP) and Welsh language editor of Llafur. She is active in Archif
Menywod Cymru/Women’s Archive of Wales and the Purple
Plaques Group.
WoV.indd 8 21/10/2022 15:10:02PREFACE
am grateful to those authors who have contributed chapters to I this history of the education inspectorate in Wales, not only for
their individual chapters but also for their generous support in the
many contributions they have made to the process of the book’s
production by means of discussion, re-writing and the joint editing
of each other’s work, and including in particular the contributions
of Russell Grigg and Roy James to the drafting of the introduction.
Feedback from reviewers on the initial typescript submitted to the
University of Wales Press has also proved to be invaluable in the
preparation of a fnal draft.
I would like to acknowledge the willing support we have
received from Estyn, the Wales inspectorate, notably from former
Her Majesty’s Chief Inspector (HMCI) Meilyr Rowlands, who
made the historical fles of the inspectorate available to us in
addition to sharing his thinking about the shape of the future. Thanks
too to his successor, Claire Morgan, for her continuing support
and to Michaela Benjamin, Executive Assistant to HMCI, for her
unfailing help in arranging access to the inspectorate’s fles and
hunting down relevant documents. Librarians at several libraries
and archives have been of notable assistance to us including those
at the National Library of Wales, the Welsh Government Library
(in which the old Welsh Department of the Board of Education
collection of reports is stored) and the National Archive. There
are several other individuals to include in our list of
acknowledgements because of the valuable information they have provided to
us as authors and the oral, and occasionally written, contributions
they have made to the production of this book. They are as
follows: retired HMI Sam J. Adams, R. Alun Charles, Gareth Wyn
Jones, Robert O. Taylor, the late Dorothy Selleck, Peter C. Webb
and the late M. J. F. (Peter) Wynn. Thanks are also due to other
retired HMI who responded anonymously to the questionnaires
featured in Chapter 6. Their readiness to assist is much appreciated.
WoV.indd 9 21/10/2022 15:10:02x Preface
Two academic authors have also been generous with their advice:
Emeritus Professor David Reynolds ofered valuable early support
and challenge to the group; and Emeritus Professor Hazel Walford
Davies, author of several publications about O.M. Ed wards, has
ofered helpful support and advice. I would also like to thank the
Welsh Government for the assistance they have provided to enable
the production of this book and to record my gratitude to William
H. Howells for his prompt preparation of a comprehensive index.
The chapters in this volume draw on a study of both primary
and secondary sources; notable among primary sources are those
archives held by Estyn, the National Library of Wales, the Welsh
Government Library and the National Archive at Kew. The chapters
also draw on the authors’ direct engagement with the practices of
inspecting the provision of education and training in Wales
(including initial teacher education).
Ann Keane
WoV.indd 10 21/10/2022 15:10:02GLOSSARY
Aide-memoire A series of questions to support interviews on
inspection, including surveys.
Assistant Inspector Historically, there had been other grades of
assistants to HMI, such as sub-inspectors and junior inspectors
before they were subsumed into the grade of assistant inspector
(AI) in 1912. After the Second World War, Martin Roseveare (as
Senior Chief Inspector in England) abolished the rank of AI and
existing AI became HMI. AI were paid around half the salary of
HMI.
Associate Assessors Teachers and managers from further
education institutions (FEI) who were invited to work as inspectors
in FEI inspections from the mid-1990s. Later known as peer
inspectors.
Board of Education In 1899 the Board of Education replaced the
Education Department, Department of Education and Science
and the Charity Commission as the British government’s
administrative body for education. In 1944 the Board became the Ministry
of Education and then the Department of
(1964), Department for Education (1992), Department for
Education and Employment (1995), Department of Education
and Skills (2001), Department for Children, Schools and Families
(2007) and Department for Education (2010).
Central Welsh Board This was created in 1896 as a national
body responsible for inspection and examination arrangements
in secondary schools created under the Welsh Intermediate
and Technical Education Act (1889). It was succeeded by the
Welsh Joint Education Committee (WJEC) after the Second
World War.
Chief Inspector The chief inspector (CI) has been responsible
for directing the work of the inspectorate in Wales, including:
after 1992, the administration of the Ofce of Her Majesty’s
Inspectorate (OHMCI Wales); having oversight of the educational
WoV.indd 11 21/10/2022 15:10:02xii Glossary
standards and provision in Wales; and liaising with/reporting to
government.
Chief Woman Inspector This post existed from 1905 in England
until 1938 when the position ceased, as part of a process of
integrating women inspectors into the mainstream structure of the
inspectorate. Women inspectors in Wales were answerable both to
the chief woman inspector and the Wales chief inspector.
Committee of Council on Education (CCE) The CCE was
establ