Education Advisers and Reviewers
Enhance quality of education by providing support and guidance to educational institutes, teachers and students, and review and examine the work of teachers and the results from curriculum programs in school settings.
A school visit and a deadline
You are an education adviser visiting a school for the day, to observe classes, meet staff and write recommendations for the regional office. You arrive at 8:30am. The report is due on a manager's desk by tomorrow, and the principal has a list of things to show you. You have a feeling the day will not go to plan.
Choose what you would do. Then see what happens. There are often good reasons for each choice.
I would really appreciate it if your report said how strong our literacy results are. We are applying for extra support, and I know it would help. You have seen how hard the staff work.
Say you will describe what you observe and let the evidence speak
He is a little deflated, but you explain that a report that only praises helps nobody. You promise to be specific about the strengths, and he gives you full access to the classrooms.
Agree to emphasise the strengths, because the school is clearly working hard
Your report is warm but lacks balance. When the extra support is assessed, the weak parts of the data stand out against your praise, and your credibility is shaken.
Tell him your report is independent and you cannot discuss what it will say
He goes cold. The staff are guarded for the rest of the day, and you see far less of how the school really works than you needed.
Are you here to judge me? I have heard that reviewers write things that follow teachers around. I am trying a new approach this term and I am not sure it is going well.
Tell her not to worry at all, because everyone is doing fine
She smiles politely, but does not believe you. She teaches a stiff version of her usual lesson, and you do not see what she is really trying.
Say the visit is to learn how the approach is working, and ask her what she would like you to look at
She names two things, and both are useful. But when she asks what will be in the report, you realise you have not decided what you can share. Being open needs clear boundaries too.
Explain what you will record, who will see it, and that you want to see her approach as it is
Knowing the limits helps her relax. She shows you what she is trying, including one thing that is not working, and you leave with a much richer picture.
The director's briefing is this afternoon. Can you send me one line on the school? Something short like they are doing well or they need help. I do not have time to read the whole report.
Send two lines that say what is working and what you would watch, and note the full report is coming
Callum uses only the first line. The briefing says the school is doing well, and the caution you included is lost. A short summary can still change the meaning.
Send a single positive line, because you can sort out the detail in the full report
The briefing is smooth. But a decision is made on that line before the detail reaches anyone, and you spend a week correcting what people assumed.
Write a short summary that includes one strength and one concern, and tell Callum not to cut either
Callum keeps both in the briefing. The director asks one good question about the concern, and your report is read properly. Short does not have to mean one-sided.
How it went
You drive back with notes, a half-written report and a clearer picture of a school than a number could give. Education advisers and reviewers need to be fair, honest and kind, and also quick to see patterns across lots of classrooms. How do you feel about being the person who has to say the hard part gently?
This is a simplified, fictional situation to help you explore. It is not professional instruction or a test of your ability.
Case study: The noisy classroom that was working
A fictional case set in a regional education department office, and the schools it supports.
The situation
Helen was an education reviewer visiting Eastgate Primary for a routine observation. The principal had mentioned that Ms Ferreira's Year 4 class was loud and that parents had noticed. When Helen sat at the back, the room was indeed noisy, with children moving between tables and talking over each other. A newer reviewer might have written that the class lacked order. Ms Ferreira was clearly nervous and kept glancing at her.
What they did
Helen stayed for the whole lesson, not just the first twenty minutes. She walked between the groups and listened. The noise was students arguing over how to solve a problem, and when she asked a few of them to explain their reasoning, they could. Afterwards she told Ms Ferreira exactly what she had seen. She suggested ways to signal quiet when needed, and wrote the report to describe both the noise and the learning, and what she would watch for next time.
How it turned out
The principal read the report and was surprised, then asked Helen to explain the teaching approach to the staff meeting. Ms Ferreira relaxed. Not every visit ends so well, but Helen said that sitting longer than she had planned changed what she saw.
What would you do?
- What might you have missed if you left after the first twenty minutes?
- How would you give feedback to a nervous teacher?
- Why might it be hard to write a report that does not match what the principal expects?