“CHRISTOPHER”, Sir Chris Woodhead’s general-studies teacher reportedly once wrote, “must learn to convince rather than cudgel”. By the end of Sir Chris ’s six years as head of Her Majesty’s Office for Standards in Education (Ofsted), nearly all the teachers in the country agreed.
An energetic reformer, in favour of traditional teaching methods over the pious orthodoxies of the “progressive” education wing, Sir Chris produced mixed feelings. After he resigned as head of Ofsted in 2000, he was awarded “villain of the year” by the Today programme, but also placed second as “hero of the year”. He had been supported by Tony Blair, then the prime minister, but had been at odds with David Blunkett, the education secretary. He had raised teaching standards; on his watch the government closed more than 100 failing schools and worked to improve 604 more. But he had infuriated schools, the unions and, finally, the Labour Party. He once famously declared that 15,000 of England’s...Continue reading
via Brian Rushton, A warrior against mediocrity
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