The Inspector of Schools: Quality Assurance

By Ben D. Odhiambo

The Inspector of Schools: Quality Assurance is a book by Ben D. Odhiambo, a Kenyan educationalist with over thirty-three years experience in all matters education. Having served as a school teacher, a teacher trainer, an inspector of schools, an educational administrator, an education publisher amongst many other varied roles, the author is uniquely placed in his outlook in what makes a successful inspector of schools. It is this distilled wisdom in the form of theory on matters pertaining to the inspection of schools and backed by solid experience on the ground that he has shared with us this book. The book is not only relevant to the aspiring or practicing inspector of schools, but to a host of other stakeholders in the education sector including teachers, administrators, parents, governmental officials and employers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Partridge Publishing Africa
• Release date: Nov 30, 2016
• ISBN: 9781482875737

Ben D. Odhiambo

The Author is a University of Aberdeen Graduate where he attained a Masters Degree and a Post Graduate Diploma in Education. In his thirty three years career in Education, he served as a School Teacher, a Teacher Trainer, an Inspector of Schools, an Educational Administrator and an Educational Book Publisher. He also participated in many Educational Conferences in Africa and Europe and in numerous Educational Committees on various Subjects including Curriculum Development for Schools and Teacher Training Colleges, several Educational Committees on various Subjects including writing Project Papers and participating in the implementation of some World Bank and UNICEF funded Projects, formulation of Policy and Position Papers and many others in Kenya. Besides these, he also participated as a founder member of the Co-Operative Bank of Kenya and one of the Directors. Also served as Chairman of one of the large Savings and Credit Co-operative Societies ELIMU SACCO in Kenya. The contents of this Book are, therefore, based on his vast wealth of theoretical and practical experiences.

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Copyright © 2016 by BEN D. ODHIAMBO.

ISBN:                   Softcover                           978-1-4828-7574-4

                            eBook                                978-1-4828-7573-7

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

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CONTENTS

Preface

Chapter 1. Introduction

Chapter 2. School Inspection Background

Chapter 3. The Inspector Of Schools

Chapter 4. Qualification

Chapter 5. Qualities

Chapter 6. Roles And Resourses

Chapter 7. Forms Of School Inspection

Chapter 8. Professional Development

Chapter 9. Inspection Report

Chapter 10. The Inspector/Teacher Relationship

Chapter 11. Teacher Advisory Centre (TAC)

Chapter 12. Conclusion

PREFACE

T here are many written books on this subject by different educationists for different categories of Inspectors and Schools some of which are very much inclined towards theoretical as opposed to the practical aspects of inspection whose skills cannot be entirely learnt from books but also through practice and from others’ experiences. In his thirty three years career in education, the author served as a School Teacher, Teacher Trainer, Inspector of Schools, Educational Book Publisher and Educational Administrator which give him an advantage of basing the content of this book on his vast theoretical and practical experiences. A deliberate effort has therefore been made to pay more attention to the practical than the theoretical aspects of School inspection. He has also highlighted the complementary roles of the Inspector visa-vi those of the Teacher and the Education Administrative Officers. Other concerns regarding their identity, relevance, roles, objectives, approach to work, relationships, support resources and institutions, etc, have been addressed and attempts made to provide some guidance to a number of these issues that are sometimes taken for granted. These will be found in the relevant chapters below. The relevance of School Inspectors in an educational system has, from time–to-time, generated heated arguments for and against. These have tended to cause a lot of misconceptions, confusion and anxiety among Educationalists. Not surprisingly, in most cases, those against, have missed the point due to lack of knowledge and appreciation of the Inspector’s roles and relevance in Education. Those for it seem to be carrying the day since more professional challenges require a professional to find solutions. In order to effectively cope with the large number of Teachers and related challenges, the need for better trained Inspectors of Schools has remained valid. It is generally acknowledged that in the last twenty years or so, Students’ enrolment in Schools has increased exponentially due to, among others, high birth rate, low mortality, improved feeding, introduction of free education and the scramble for education by the communities that never valued it before, etc. As a result of these, the Teachers have been overwhelmed by the high number of Students they have to handle in class. A reasonable Teacher/Pupil ratio which is mainly determined by the Students’ enrolment, category of School, subjects offered, availability of resources, and the number of trained Teachers, among others has remained a mirage and far from being resolved in the near future due to lack of adequate funds to hire more. Not surprisingly therefore, the effects of this situation will continue to create enormous challenges to the Inspectors’ of Schools whose main objective is to enhance and maintain the quality of Education in Schools. Most likely more and well trained Inspectors of Schools would be part of the solution to the professionally wanting areas.

Although this book has been written based on the Kenyan experience, others would find it informative and enriching, especially the inexperienced Inspectors of Schools, Students of Education and Educational Administrators, among others. Sharing one’s knowledge and experiences with others is not only a professional calling but is also noble and of immense satisfaction and accomplishment. It is also one way of appreciating the invaluable gifts of God that enable us to achieve higher goals of life for the benefit of mankind. It is hoped that this book would enlighten the Teachers on the Inspector’s roles in order to relate more positively during School inspections and related activities. The need to re-train Teachers in public Schools from time to time in order to cope with educational innovations and challenges remains crucial.

I am highly indebted to the following without which this book would have not seen the light of the day: - Dr Gilbert Oluoch (former Director of Education - Kenya) who was my mentor for many years, All my family members particularly my wife Mary Odhiambo (former Headmistress in a Nairobi School) who provided invaluable support and encouragement, my grandson Alex Naijuka Njuneki (a Law Student at the Nairobi University) who provided some Secretarial assistance, Professor John Nesbit (a former Head of Education Department– Aberdeen University, UK) and Mr Alastair Gammie (a former Senior Lecturer in the Department of Education- Aberdeen University, UK) for their insight and encouragement to me as regards the benefits of seeking more knowledge to share with others and lastly but not least, many more professional colleagues, with whom I held very fruitful discussions on the subject and many others who could not all be enlisted here.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

F or many years, there have been debates regarding the relevance and need for School Inspectors in an educational system. Those in favour have argued that they are necessary agents of change for implementing new educational policies, curriculum programmes and ensuring that the desired quality of teaching and learning takes place in an orderly manner in Schools. On the other hand, there are those who think otherwise and argue that the Inspectors’ establishment is a costly luxury to the system and the resources spent on them would better be utilised for other deserving areas in Education. They also claim that the Education Administrative Officers would suffice to combine the Inspectors roles and theirs since they have more or less the same basic education, professional qualifications and in some cases, have more or less the same experiences. This portrays conservative and retrogressive views about the Inspector’s roles visa-vi those of the Education Administrative Officers. The fact is that each of the two handles different yet complementary roles where the Inspectors’ are more inclined to professional aspects aimed at improving and enhancing the quality of teaching and learning in Schools, while his counterpart concerns are administration and management. Therefore, the argument against the establishment of School Inspectors is entirely unwarranted. The major world professions have adopted specialisation trends to achieve high quality results with precision. The Education Profession, which is the vehicle for all the others, should not be an exception.

It is necessary to soberly and critically look at the School inspection genesis, values, achievements, development, its future in the Education system and in order to appreciate the specialised nature of the Inspector’s roles, one needs to be familiar with what they entail and the numerous positive outcomes. However, there is a general agreement that the roles played by the Inspectors are necessary as they are more professionally oriented and a means for correctly interpreting to the Teachers the relevant professional policies, curriculum issues, desirable teaching practices, evaluation procedures and assessment of short and the long-term effects triggered by these elements while at the same time, facilitate feed-back information to the relevant authorities and Institutions. The piramidic structure of Educational management requires that Inspectors of Schools provide services at different levels from the base to the apex where they have specific roles, responsibilities and an effective two-way communication system between Schools and the relevant administrative levels of the pyramid and vice versa. The right title for this category of professionals has been contentious from time to time in different regions and systems of Education. They have been referred to as Inspectors of Schools, Itinerary Teachers, School Supervisors, School Advisors, Quality Assurers, and sometimes, derogatively, as Faultfinder, etc.

The basic question is, ‘what in general would determine their appropriate job title? Is it the level of education, professional training, practice, experience, beliefs, social status, or what? It would be reasonable to assume that a job title of this nature would evolve from the institutional philosophy, goals, objectives, policies, roles, expectations, tradition, etc. There are diverse opinions on this that would be discussed in the subsequent chapters.

Depending on the National Education policies, objectives and funding, the centralised system of Government has been responsible for the establishment of the School Inspectorate Department charged with the responsibilities for appointments, organisation, operations and co-ordination of the School Inspection services. Sometimes due to the expansive operational areas, a vacuum