School inspections cause stress and anxiety, says researcher
Teachers and principals of primary and secondary schools in Flanders report feeling anxious and stressed out about inspections of their learning plan goals
Concrete advice needed
Penninckx surveyed 2,668 members of staff in 137 schools across Flanders; 45% of them reported feeling stress and anxiety anticipating the arrival of inspectors. One out of four school directors and teachers also said that they suffered from “a strongly damaged professional enthusiasm” up to two weeks after the evaluation.
About 53% of schools indicated that they made changes based on findings by inspectors. “Schools need concrete advice,” Penninckx told De Standaard. His study demonstrated that 87% of staff are in favour of concrete advice after the evaluation. Inspection services, however, are only allowed to examine whether learning goals are being achieved, not how schools can improve their day-to-day functioning.
Flanders’ education minister, Hilde Crevits, stated that the inspection services will be updated by the 2017-18 academic year.
Photo courtesy jongereninfolife.be
