ABSTRACT
The education service in Britain is locally administered through a committee of selected councillors advised by a chief education officer, who maintains an overview of the effectiveness of the service through his advisory service.
Members of an advisory service may be called inspectors or advisers and most have both functions. The details of their work may vary in different local authorities but most are concerned with advising the chief officer and councillors on the provision and maintenance of standards of education in the schools and other establishments; the appointment, deployment and promotion of teachers; curriculum development and in-service education, and the design and equipping of school and other educational buildings. The advisory service is also a source of advice to teachers and head teachers on the organization and managements of schools, the curriculum, the appointment and deployment of teachers and day-to-day problems.
Advisory teams attempt to meet these demands in various ways. It is usual for a team to include experts in different aspects of curriculum and different stages of education and also for each member to have a pastoral responsibility for a group of schools. The team will be expected to have a good knowledge of individual schools and to know the state of aspects of education across the authority. This involves regular visiting of schools and some team studies.
Advisory teams are usually led by a chief adviser and may have other senior members with a co-ordinating role. To be effective and credible to teachers, members of an advisory team need to have had substantial and successful teaching experience.
