DfE use of “expert groups” and Ofsted: a sketch of recent events in initial teacher education policy, and questions

My recent work on goings-on in and around Ofsted and the DfE in relation to teacher education, and in other related fields, has provoked many questions, as I reflect on what might be happening and how it compares to policymaking in my experience of covering education since 1997.

Thinking on this, I sketched out one current strand of policymaking, with some observations, and sent it to a contact.

These observations, set out below, are tentative, and written quickly. But I thought I’d share them with readers now, to provoke discussion.

That sketch

My thoughts were provoked after receiving Ofsted’s response to my Freedom of Information request which had asked for data behind its statement that “some” initial teacher education providers had curricula which are “underpinned by outdated or discredited theories of education,” which had then been mentioned in the current controversial DfE review of the sector. Ofsted was unable to provide figures.