School self-evaluation and the role of a critical friend

School self-evaluation and the role of a
critical friend
Sue Swaffield* and John MacBeath
University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education, UK
School self-evaluation is receiving increasing attention in England, partly as a result of changes in
the Ofsted inspection framework giving greater prominence to what schools can do to speak for
themselves. The relationship between internal self-evaluation and external inspection was a theme
in a high profile policy speech made by the Schools Standards Minister, David Miliband, at the
North of England Conference in January 2004. As part of a ‘new relationship with schools’ heralded
in the speech, Miliband articulated critical friendship in terms of a ‘school improvement partner’.
This article draws upon a number of research projects to critique these proposals, especially in
respect of the role of a critical friend in school self-evaluation. Issues discussed include different
models of self and external evaluation, the importance of context, and the various ways in which a
critical friend can support school self-evaluation.
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