Analysis of the Case Study of Ofstede School

OFSTEDE CASE STUDY
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Table of Contents TOC \o "1-3" \h \z \u Educational Policy analysis since 1976: PAGEREF _Toc63267125 \h 3School Effectiveness Theory: PAGEREF _Toc63267126 \h 4Effective and Ineffective Teaching practices: PAGEREF _Toc63267127 \h 6Accountability agenda in education: PAGEREF _Toc63267128 \h 8Change Management: PAGEREF _Toc63267129 \h 9References: PAGEREF _Toc63267130 \h 11
Ofstede Case Study
Educational Policy Analysis since 1976:
The educational policies and practices have undergone many changes since 1976. There has been a change in the perception of the concept and the learning outcomes of education. It is starting from the reign of the conservative party in 1979, which focused on vocational education and assisted placement of the gifted yet poor students in schools. Education Reform Act of 1988 is one of the critical milestones in the educational policies of the U.K. It has helped the primary and secondary schools develop the curriculum for students' required competencies and skills by proving the parameters and benchmarks for each stage (Education Reform Act 1988, 2021). It has form standards so that all students learn the same things in all schools. It included features for the students' assessment and the mandatory religious education requirements for the students with a focus on Christianity. By bringing all educational institutions under the scrutiny of the local authorities, this reform served the purpose of social unity, a vital government policy agenda.
Policies at later stages emphasize the development of necessary skills and competencies like literacy and numeracy. The educational system's labor party reforms included a particular focus on each student's needs rather than a more comprehensive education system. It also developed standards for the class size and targets the schools with lower quality of education (Leeds, 2021). The schools with more outstanding quality were granted more autonomy on their curriculum and national curriculum implementation. The role of teaching assistants became more functional than before with the labor party reforms.
One agenda of the labor part was to increase the inclusion of the neglected areas n the educational reforms and setting partnerships for low achieving schools for performance enhancement (Leeds, 2021). Apart from creating the social changes, these policies can have a political agenda for increasing the vote bank from a particular group? The reduction of inequality among the society, however, is usually the driver of many state policies.
The political drivers for maintaining the educational system can be economical and social. The global educational reforms that emerged on many countries' surface after the 1960 and 1970 have deep political roots. The new orthodoxy of the educational system was focused on the standardization f the curriculum and the emphasis on the narrower range of the subjects with the schools' management style (Fuller et al., 2019). There have also been critics of privatization and commercialization of the education system, which is also believed to be supported by the global political system's agenda (Fuller et al., 2019). With the gap in demand and supply of the educational institutes and governments' limited resources, privatization of education seems like a better alternative to meet the demand gap.
School Effectiveness Theory
The theory of school effectiveness implies effective leadership and guidance for students to achieve their potential and defined goals and targets. Different school effectiveness theories were designed to outline the parameters for the successful educational outcome. Edmonds (1979) developed a five-factor model of education effectiveness that includes the dimensions of student achievement, progress, leadership attributes, development of necessary skills, and a safe climate. Other theories have a slightly different approach, as Grossin (2004) argued that a right learning environment comprises effective leadership, high expectations by listeners, a conducive learning environment, and necessary skills (Zamir, 2020). While there are specific subtle differences, it is clear that a useful learning model's essential characteristics and requirements are the same, i.e., providing the right environment and developing the children's skill set.
Applying the models mentioned above to the Ofsted, it can be observed that there are positive and negative factors present in the school's learning environment. Among the positive attributes are the encouraging environment and the staff's cooperation, conducive to the desired learning environment. The negative attributes are the lack of optimal curriculum and focus on developing the students' necessary skills such as reading and writing. Among the primary factors that affect the primary classes' necessary skills is the teacher's quality (Bold et al., 2017). One of the issues at Ofsted is the teachers' high turnover rate that implies that teachers' quality is not consistent, and students do not have a chance to build an effective relationship with their teachers, which is a critical component of learning.
Skills like reading, comprehension, writing, and arithmetic are crucial in developing the students for the later stages of learning and practical life. There has been a lack of focus on integrating learning from different subjects and models in the school. Teachers are unaware of the student's learning in the past and face problems integrating prior learning with the new modules. The integrated curriculum is of prime importance that can help design a more coherent learning structure (Anderson, 2013). Furthermore, the teachers responsible for designing the syllabus are not well aware of the subjects and cannot formulate an effective teaching strategy.
Although school teaches some valuable practical skills like raising money for charity, some lack even the most basic skills like fluency in reading, there is no standard to bring all students to par at school; instead, students can easily bypass the learning as teachers give them an easy way out by lowering the benchmark. The students who perform below the average are not pushed enough to stretch their limits and achieve their academic potential like repeated readings assignments that have helped develop fluency among children (Bendak, 2018). The learning environment is not exceptionally challenging; instead, it is creating boredom among children. The school environment is not engaging the students who are not self-motivated or regulated and require some external support in learning.
One of the areas where Ofsted is lacking is the creation of a disciplined learning environment. Since it is not fostering punctuality among pupils by not developing any ground rules for discipline, it effectively teaches skills and competencies required in practical life. Perhaps the school's most imminent problem is the lack of proper governance structure, rules, and management regulations. Despite providing a supportive and safe environment for learning, the school does not leverage its resources mainly because of a lack of sound policies and rules.
Effective and Ineffective Teaching Practices:
The basic requirements for effective teaching are to incorporate different learning styles. Based on Kolb's learning style theory, it is evident that different students have different learning preferences; some are better taught through active engagement and involvement while others are better off with reflective learning. The teacher's responsibility is to adapt the teaching style to meet better students' needs (Muijs. et al., 2017). There is no practical method of assessment for students with different learning styles and their competencies in Ofsted.
Teaching different skills and subjects is not practical, e.g., speaking effectively is not done effectively. Adult engagement and peer engagement are an effective method to enhance young children's vocabulary and communication skills. Student interaction is also essential in developing speaking skills (Saeed et al., 2016). The school needs to promote debate competitions, classroom discussions, and presentations to develop the students' speaking skills.
The efficient teaching of writing also requires the teacher to focus on the student rather than the text (Keen, 2017). To improve the students' writing skills, the teacher should encourage them to read broadly and implement it in their writings. Regular writing assignments are an effective way the development of the desired skills. The sub-skills such as vocabulary, grammar, and sentence formation also need to be cultivated. The practices need to consistent for delivering fruitful results.
The use of different teaching resources is also found to impact students' learning positively. The importance of traditional textbooks cannot be denied. As mentioned, the books are not updated and up to the mark, making the teaching inefficient. There has been a lack of teacher training, which can improve students' learning outcomes (Piper et al., 2018). The use of visual aids is also useful for teaching the students and is found to have a profound impact on the students' learning (Ho ...