Before and after Ofsted: the emotional and professional journey of children’s social care senior leaders who received an Ofsted judgement of inadequate

This is a unique small-scale study that explores the experiences of senior leaders who received an Ofsted judgement of inadequate. For the first time and through their own words it tells their stories of their lived experience in the period up to, during and post Ofsted inspection. The study frames these stories, which are rich in detail, from both a professional and emotional perspective and draws out the similarities of the experiences of the participants. The study explores the unconscious processes behind the actions and decisions taken and the individual and organisational defences against anxiety. The study lays bare the career defining impact of an inadequate Ofsted inspection judgement. A hybrid of Hollway and Jefferson’s Free Association Narrative Interview (FANI) method was used to capture the participants’ lived experience. These were explored using thematic analysis. Further consideration was applied to these themes using psychoanalytic theories and constructs, ‘going beneath the surface’ to explore the conscious and unconscious processes at play. The study focused upon outcomes of Ofsted inspections that were undertaken in each English local authority with responsibilities for children’s services between 2013 and 2018. The findings are contextualised in relation to how the participants experienced responses to the Ofsted inspection process. This study contributes to an emerging body of knowledge that goes beneath the surface of the emotional impact of inspection activity for those in positions of responsibility and accountability. Through a psychoanalytic lens, the study points out that responses to a poor inspection outcome can be extremely damaging to managers on an emotional level, with participants outlining feelings of blame, isolation, scapegoating and impotence in the wider organisation and system. Professionally, almost all participants described their experience of the inspection as career limiting, indicating that they did not wish to expose themselves to a similar experience in the future. These findings impact directly on how senior managers are recruited, developed and supported in the complex task of delivering safe and effective children’s social care services.