ABSTRACT
In my work as an Ofsted trained inspector I found that there are some, perhaps it would be more accurate to say ‘a few’, English secondary schools that are significantly more democratic than most. These schools seem to manage to ‘square the circle’ of authority and compulsion with real freedom and responsibility. They appear to be able to create an ethos where education for democracy is experientially possible and by so doing enhance the ethos in such a way that makes it progressively more possible. Very often superlatives such as ‘excellent’ or ‘outstanding’ creep into the normally staid ‘Ofstedspeak’ when relationships between students and between students and teachers are described by inspectors in their reports.
