In this series of 10 short blogs – which will issue in rapid succession – I will consider in turn the top themes that have emerged from 50 interviews with teachers, leaders, policy-makers, academics and other from across and beyond the English FE system. Each blog will end with a question which I hope will generate debate on LinkedIn, where the blogs are signposted.
The core question considered has been “what might be the features of a self-improving FE system?” Interviewees have also considered the key features of the FE system as it stands, and what is holding it back from being self-improving.
The second most popular theme that my 50+ interviewees have mentioned as being vital to consider when designing a Self-Improving System is the role of inspection or scrutiny, and how it is placed on the accountability/support spectrum.
There have been two main dimensions at play in people’s thinking: firstly, what the relationship should be between scrutiny mechanisms and improvement mechanisms; and secondly, where these functions are best situated in terms of being “inside” or “outside” of the system.
