Music Education – The Ofsted Parable of the Sower

In light of the recent announcements about the upcoming curriculum review, I would like to share this story…

One day, a Sower went out to sow some seeds.

And when he sowed, some seeds fell by the way side, and the birds came and ate them up.

Some fell on stony ground, where they had not much soil: and they quickly began to grow, because they had no depth of earth: when the sun was up, they were scorched; and because they had no roots, they withered away.

Some fell among thorns; and the thorns sprung up, and choked them.

But some fell into good ground, and over time sprouted, grew and brought forth fruit, some an hundredfold, some sixtyfold, some thirtyfold.

Unfortunately, this didn’t happen while the OFSTED/SIP/SLT inspection was underway, as the process that took place was – naturally – initially hidden beneath the surface as the seed germinated and took root. As there was no visible evidence of growth during the sowing observation, the Sower was placed on a capability plan.

The Sower soon learned that all the different observers said they wanted deep growth, but really they wanted instant results, and the seed planted on stony ground would give this instant evidence (and they would be gone by the time things went pear-shaped).

Later on, those in charge would wonder at the fact that so many plants seemed to wither and die so easily, and would constantly complain about the poor standard of Sowers in the land.

Oddly enough, there were – for reasons no one could quite put their finger on – difficulties in recruiting new Sowers.

Listen, all you who have ears…

Let’s hope that those who have the responsibility of updating the curriculum will heed the many voices advocating a fundamental shift from short-term, quick-fix, blame-game, ‘education-as-a-production-line’ model to a more rounded holistic approach, where pupils are given time and space to grow, and teachers are trusted and valued for the immensely hard work they put into their teaching on a daily basis.

Mike