I have this little theory. The Ofsted criteria is not responsible for most of the dumbed down teaching that I see when I visit schools. In fact, it is far more likely to be the head teacher's screwed up interpretation of some course they went on 5 years ago. So I continually see the same old things.
But why can't schooling be better than that? Why can't we re-instill some intellect?
The Ofsted criteria isn't stopping us.
Below is the criteria for outstanding, alongside what I typically see when inspecting or visiting schools.
But it doesn't have to be this way... why can't the bar be a whole lot higher? Here are some suggestions: