ABSTRACT
This study brought inspection to light as a necessary tool towards the attainment of the expected outcomes of the teaching and learning process and that despite the important role it plays, the work of the school inspector has not been without inherent challenges. This challenges which formed the problem of the study presented in chapter one of the study, ranged from the ‘unreported cold war’ and mutual suspicion that has characterized the relationship of inspectors and teachers. To this end, the problem of the study , focused on the anxiety level of primary school teachers in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta in respect to inspection which tends to act as impediments to their efficiency in the instructional process; the attitude of some inspectors who tend to belittling teachers and the teachers themselves who perceive the coming of the inspectors as fault finding mission which tends to increase the level of teachers anxiety; the issue of teachers preparing their lesson notes overnight and the manipulation of dates on academic records just to get the inspector’s approval; the issue of the continuous poor performance in primary school common entrance examination despite the fact that inspections are carried out as an ongoing process. In considering the purpose of the study, the following were highlighted: how inspectors perform their role, the variation in such variables as sex, school type and professional status of teachers with respect to their attitudes towards inspection as well as what constitute the dominant attitude of teachers towards inspection.
In what followed after the review of literature in chapter two, chapter three presented a methodology of the study where a population of 200 teachers including head teachers were sampled for the study using a simple random sampling techniques with a sample size of 5 teachers each across 20 public and 20 private schools in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State. Consequently, a questionnaire with section A seeking demographic information and section B a likert scale point rating scale comprising of 26 positively / negatively worded questions was development to elicitate respondents opinion on primary school teachers attitude to inspection. on the following areas: the dominant attitude of primary school teachers to inspection, the attitude of male and female primary school teachers concerning school inspection experience and the attitude of public and private primary school teachers with respect to the work of the school inspector. Of the 200 questionnaire however, only 170 were found to be useful for analysis as the other 30 contained incomplete data. Sequel to this, descriptive statistics of mean score was used to make decisions on the four research questions presented while t- test statistics was used to make empirical judgement on the research hypothesis.
Results obtained for the study, were presented in chapter 4 and sequel to that chapter 5 of the study presented the following summary of findings: Teachers perception that inspection is a means of detecting teachers who are incapable of carrying out their teaching responsibility ranked highest as the dominant attitude of teachers towards inspection and this attitude to inspection tends to take for granted the overall benefits of inspection to the teaching and learning process; teachers generally have a positive attitude towards inspection experience but male teachers have an edge over female teachers in terms of their positive attitude towards inspection experience; both public and private school teachers gets emotionally overwhelmed and intimidated when they encounter bossy, overbearing and autocratic inspectors; both experienced and less experienced primary school teachers are positive in terms of their attitude towards inspection with less experienced teachers appearing to be the most positive; there is no significant difference between the attitude of male and female primary school teachers concerning school inspection; there is no significant difference between the attitude of public and private primary school teachers with respect to the work of the school inspector and there is no significant difference between the attitude of experienced and less experienced primary school teachers concerning school inspection. Finally some recommendations were made to give fillip to the study and these includes the encouragement of inspectors of education to see themselves as important stakeholders in the education process who should go about their duties with objectivity and utmost professionalism, the adoption of modern democratic inspection style rather than traditional autocratic style of inspection, the synergy between teachers inspectors in evolving an effective and efficient school inspection as well as making the business of school inspection a germane aspect of the school system.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background to the Study
School inspection is concerned with the improvement of standards and quality of education and is an integral part of school improvement programs.
Dodd (1968) defined inspection based on UNESCO’s 1962 definition as “the specific process whereby a school is examined and evaluated as a place of learning in such a way that advice may be given for its improvement and that advice embodied in a report”. According to him, inspection is a constant and continuous process of more personal guidance based on frequent visits when attention is directed to one or more aspects of the schools and its organization. Education has grown in complexity and in terms of number of institutions – private and public and subjects in the curriculum beyond the scope of administrators with professionals (Education officers) as inspectors of schools
Inspection is a legal requirement thus making it necessary for every ministry of Education in Nigeria to have an inspectorate department whose function is to carry out inspection of school to ensure that standards are maintained and act as agent of quality control in education.
School inspection has a long history. In its early days, it had a very limited purpose. With the introduction of state systems of education, governments needed to check that their statutory requirements for schools were being observed. This usually involved inspecting attendance records, pupils discipline and basic standards of literacy and numeracy. The function of schools was to produce a minimally educated workforce, not to provide the nation’s children with an education for enhancing the qualities of their own lives. To carry out this task, inspectors needed little direct experience of teaching in schools. They were government agents who policed, rather than supported, the work of schools. Not surprisingly, they soon gained an unwelcome reputation.
Today, in many countries around the world, school inspection plays a much wider and more substantial role in the work and development of schools. Historically, schools had decided what to teach, how the content would be taught and what parents should be told about their children’s performance and progress. Little wonder that schools were known as “secret gardens”. What went on inside them was a mystery to most outsiders.
Major shifts in social, economic and political thinking and attitudes in the industrialized nations over the last 30 years have swept away such freedoms and independence. Accountability, value for money, competition, stakeholder rights, new technologies and globalization now dictate the shape and direction of education and schools. Schools are very different places, open to public scrutiny, more directly subject to the needs of national social and economic policy, and expected to serve the local communities in which they are situated. Partnership has replaced imposition as the means for bringing about change. “Working together” is the new doctrine. It is generally agreed that effective progress is consequent upon the involvement and satisfaction of all stakeholders. For schools, the notion of the “secret garden” is a thing of the past.