Abstract

When we ask the question, 'what is the purpose of education?' we are asking, 'what is the purpose of educating human beings?' and any sincere answer to this question can only be advanced following our reflections upon the interrelated question, 'what do we mean by being human?' This 'Who are We?' question is embedded, though usually not explicitly, in school inspection regimes, in day-to-day teaching practice, and in all educational dialogue and policy. It affects the wellbeing of those on the frontline of education. But it is possible for staff, policy makers and academics to uncover these hidden assumptions, explore counter-narratives, and transform school curricula in the light of these reformed narratives. The author approaches these questions from a Christian Contemplative standpoint, via Radical Orthodoxy (RO)--an academic, persuasive and polemical sensibility--and through the prayerful and relational aspiration of the contemplative tradition. It takes as a central case study the inspection of a school by the UK Government inspection body, Ofsted, the Office for Standards in Education.