ABSTRACT
This chapter examines some of the ways in which changes in the inspection of schools, changes in personnel and the historic legitimacy of Her Majesty's Inspectorate (HMI), contribute to both the legitimacy and authority of HMCI/Office for Standards in Education's (OFSTED) statements. Constitutionally the role of HMI was to provide the government of the day with a description of the 'health' of the system. The period following the implementation of the 1944 Act was clearly one of change and the authors argue that individual HMIs played a part in that change. The creation of the Schools Council in 1962 provided HMI with a direct entry into curriculum reform. All the curriculum groups established had HMI members and many of these were extremely influential in their own right. The power of an interpretive community was challenged and undermined by critics who refused to accept that HMI judgements were grounded in experience and reflected collective professional wisdom.
