Castro Kemp, Susana;
Melander, Asa;
(2025)
“I know we need to be regulated, but I don't think this is the right way”: Early education managers’ experiences of group setting inspections in England.
Journal of Early Childhood Research
10.1177/1476718X251326000.
(In press).
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Abstract
Early childhood education is regarded as key to help ensure long-term positive outcomes for children, and high-quality provision crucial for long-term developmental outcomes. However, how settings are inspected for the quality of their services varies substantially across countries. In England, the inspection body Ofsted has been heavily criticised for its high-stakes sanction-oriented approach to inspections. This study aimed to understand what makes a high-quality setting from the point of view of early years managers, and how they experience the inspection procedure, including any challenges faced, and ideas for a different inspection framework. Interviews with 21 managers resulted in three main themes: (a) key elements of the learning environment and resources for child development, (b) key organizational aspects, and (c) moving forward. Managers recognize the need for an inspection system but are dissatisfied with the current approach. They suggest a model where more advice and more prolonged engagement with the setting results in a supportive relationship that develops staff, in line with a low stakes, advisory-oriented model.
| Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Title: | “I know we need to be regulated, but I don't think this is the right way”: Early education managers’ experiences of group setting inspections in England |
| Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
| DOI: | 10.1177/1476718X251326000 |
| Publisher version: | https://doi.org/10.1177/1476718X251326000 |
| Language: | English |
| Additional information: | © The Author(s) 2025. This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access pages (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage). |
| UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Education > UCL Institute of Education > IOE - Psychology and Human Development |
| URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10206026 |
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