Snell, J. orcid.org/0000-0002-0337-7212 and Cushing, I. (2023) Institutional language policing and the maintenance of race-class inequalities. FORUM, 65 (3). pp. 128-141. ISSN 0963-8253
Abstract
In this article, we show how Ofsted operates as institutional language police, and how the inspectorate’s attitudes about language maintain race-class inequalities under a guise of social justice, equality and evidence-based practice. Our research has repeatedly demonstrated how Ofsted reproduces long-standing, deficit-based and colonial logics that marginalised children lack adequate language, and that school is a place where they can be compensated for these supposed shortcomings. We outline three key areas of this work. First, we trace the kind of research about language that Ofsted draws on to build the so-called evidence-base which underpins its contemporary policies. Second, we reveal the language ideologies that circulate in school inspection reports and how the inspectorate evaluates the language of teachers and pupils. Finally, we show how these stances on language have direct impact on the lives of teachers and children in schools. We argue that the extent of the language policing and discrimination we have uncovered in Ofsted’s policies and reporting demonstrates that these are not simply individual mistakes but an institutionalised, systemic and normalised feature of the inspectorate’s practice.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | This is an author produced version of an article published in FORUM. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Keywords: | Ofsted; language policy; language policing; race-class inequalities; inspection report; standard English; ability; discrimination |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Cultures (Leeds) > School of English (Leeds) |
Funding Information: | Funder Grant number Leverhulme Trust RF-2021-532 |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 03 Aug 2023 09:33 |
Last Modified: | 21 Nov 2024 01:13 |
Published Version: | https://journals.lwbooks.co.uk/forum/vol-65-issue-... |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Lawrence Wishart |
Identification Number: | 10.3898/forum.2023.65.3.19 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:202094 |