Calls for ‘homegrown talent’ to take over as next Ofsted chief
The Guardian | Richard Adams and Frances Perraudin | 16 February 2016
The government has been urged to look for “homegrown talent” to fill the role of chief inspector of schools in England and head of Ofsted, following reports that the education secretary, Nicky Morgan, wants to appoint an American with a record of taking on unions.
Morgan is reportedly looking overseas to replace Michael Wilshaw, who will stand down in December. According to the Sunday Times,(subscription required) she is keen to recruit an outsider who has defeated union resistance to education changes abroad in order to raise school standards in the UK.
Russell Hobby, general secretary of the National Association of Head Teachers, a critic of Ofsted under Wilshaw, said there were massive differences between the US and UK systems in terms of funding, structure and unionisation. “It would be wrong to assume that lessons can always be imported wholesale,” he said.
Abstract | David Cameron’s education adviser, Rachel Wolf – who founded the New Schools Network, which helped to set up a string of free schools – is said to be a fan of Dave Levin, co-founder of the American KIPP charter schools group. Charter schools are state schools in the US that are independent of local authority control, similar to British academies and free schools.
Other critics of an appointment from the US pointed out that a truly global search would look at candidates from high-performing countries such as Finland or New Zealand.
A Whitehall source said it was important to get the best person for the job, regardless of nationality: “The role of chief inspector is absolutely crucial to our education system. There are some great potential candidates here in the UK but, as education becomes increasingly global, we’d be remiss not to look abroad as well as at home – especially to those countries who’ve embarked on similar reform programmes to ours.”
