We live in an age of accountability - government ministers go on about it, as do local government. Everyone's accountable to someone else apparently.
Or are they?
Teachers:
Accountable to their line managers (heads of department) and their cohort (students) through delivery of lessons, and the quality of that delivery. This manifests itself in good (or bad) exams results based partly upon the teacher, but, and this is often forgotten, it is also based upon a child's desire to learn/listen and their discipline during the lead up to exams. Basically, do they get all the notes down, try quite hard and revise before an exam. A teacher lives (and dies) by their exam results essentially, and that's fair enough to a certain extent.
Line Managers (or Heads of department on old money):
They are accountable to the member of the senior management team who oversees their department, and ultimately the children and parents of those who attend the school. That line manager can be an expert in the subject, but more often than not, isn't. This is not a criticism just a fact that a school can't have an assistant head who has taught every subject which they oversee - that would be very expensive and unnecessary. What they should be (although in the public sector, the cream doesn't always rise to the top) is a good teacher, and therefore able to offer support in the classroom to those who require it. I emphasise the word "should" at this point. They do this by observing lessons and offering feedback, which in my experience tends to be a pretty negative experience where the line manager says something along the lines of "you don't teach like me so you must be rubbish" and I respond with something along the lines of "I'm happy that I don't teach like you - I never want to be anything like you because I don't like you". Observations are supposed to be a positive experience - they generally are a demoralising experience.
Assistant Head Teachers:
They are accountable to the deputy head teacher and the students/parents at the school, although they do tend to teach a reasonable amount, so have similar accountability issues as other teachers.
Deputy Head Teachers:
Accountable to the Head Teacher, but tend to do a lot "sitting in their office" pouring over the latest data that has been emailed to them. They do also tend to deal with the major discipline issues.
Head Teachers:
Accountable to the Local Education Authority (if that's what it's still called) and the school's governors. The heat from from these two bodies is dependent on the school's results and how many people they exclude (targets are low, hence the increasing amounts of misbehaviour in schools). Governors are taken from parents, council and staff and ultimately can be hoodwinked to a certain extent because they probably aren't fully aware of what goes on within the four walls. The teacher governors tend to keep quiet for fear of being sacked.
And then overseeing the whole thing is, you guessed it, OFSTED.
Who are they accountable to? No-one ultimately. The government believes that these people know what they are talking about whereas anyone on the "shop floor" will tell you that they haven't a clue. How else would you get away with a comment like one that I was told by a colleague recently.
The scenario - a city school that takes a lot of asylum seekers who barely speak English as they've only just arrived in the country. They'll learn the language, the school has no doubt, but it will be a long and difficult road, and will also mean that exam results will be affected. The conversation went something like this:
OFSTED Inspector:
Your exam results are below average for the catchment area you are in.
Teacher:
That's because a majority, over 50% (the inspector will need this numeric clarification) speak English as an additional language, so considering that we actually do quite well.
OFSTED Inspector:
Maybe you need to think carefully about your stock.
That just about sums them up, OFSTED. Data driven idiots who can say what they like without fear of reprisal.
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