Chiến lược nâng cao chất lượng hoạt động thanh tra giáo dục tại tỉnh thanh hóa

Chiến lược nâng cao chất lượng hoạt động thanh tra giáo dục tại tỉnh Thanh Hóa

STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL INSPECTION

ACTIVITIES IN THANH HOA PROVINCE

A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of International Graduate School Southern Luzon State University, Lucban, Quezon, Philippines

In Collaboration with Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education Management

LE MINH HUNG

April, 2014

APPROVAL SHEET

The Dissertation of

LE MINH HUNG

entitled

STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF EDUCATIONAL INSPECTION

ACTIVITIES IN THANH HOA PROVINCE

Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management

In the Graduate School Southern Luzon State University, Republic of the Philippines

in collaboration with Thai Nguyen University, Socialist Republic of Vietnam

has been approved by the Committee

DR APOLONIA A.ESPINOSA DR APOLONIA A ESPINOSA

Accepted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree

Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management

WALBERTO MACARANAN, Ed D

Vice President, Academic Affairs _

Date

ACKNOWLEDGMENT

The researcher wishes to extend his most sincere gratitude to the following people, who in one way or another, made this piece of work a reality:

Dr Cecilia N Gascon, President of Southern Luzon State University, Republic of the

Philippines, who made possible the linkage with Thai Nguyen University and the offering of Doctor of Philosophy in Educational Management, through the ITC-TUAF;

Dr Dang Kim Vui, President of Thai Nguyen University, who developed the linkage

with Southern Luzon State University, Republic of the Philippines and the offering of Doctor

of Philosophy in Educational Management, through the ITC-TUAF;

Dr Apolonia A Espinosa, his research adviser, for his support and supervision throughout his graduate study program His advice and support during the conduct of his study has greatly helped him a lot;

Prof Nordelina Ilano, Director, Office for International Affairs of SLSU for her outright assistance to the Ph.D students;

Dr Tran Thanh Van, the Dean of the Graduate School of Thai Nguyen University, for his assistance and encouragement to pursue this study;

Dr Dang Xuan Binh, the Director of International Training Center, for his indefatigable effort to encourage the Ph.D students to pursue this study;

To all the SLSU and TNU Professors, who unselfishly shared their time and knowledge throughout the graduate studies in Thai Nguyen University, Vietnam;

Special thanks to his family and friends for their support, encouragement for being the sources of greatest inspiration, which made his career a success

Le Minh Hung

TABLE OF CONTENTS

APPROVAL SHEET i

ACKNOWLEDGMENT ii

TABLE OF CONTENTS iii

LIST OF TABLES v

LIST OF FIGURES vii

LIST OF APPENDIX viii

ABSTRACT ix

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION……… 1

Background of the Study 4

Objectives of the study 6

Hypothesis of the Study 7

Significance of the Study 7

Scope and Limitation of the Study 8

Definition of Terms 8

CHAPTER 2 REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE .12

Review of Related Literature 10

Research paradigm 41

CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY……… … 43

Locale of the Study 43

Research Design 43

Respondents of the study 44

Research Instruments 44

Data Gathering Procedures 45

Statistical Treatment 45

CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 48

CHAPTER 5 SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 68

Summary 68

Findings 69

Conclusions 71

Recommendations 72

BIBLIOGRAPHY 74

APPENDIX 79

CURRICULUM VITAE 105

LIST OF TABLES

1: Level of Educational Inspection Activities in terms of Professional Inspection…… 48

2 Level of Educational Inspection Activities in terms of Inspection Management… 49

3 Level of Educational Inspection Activities in terms of Complaint Management… …50

4 Educational Qualifications of the Respondent Schools as to Professional Quality of Teachers

……… ……51

5 Educational Quality of the respondents' school as to the Performance of Students… 54

6 Difference between the Schools and their Educational Inspection Activities in terms of Professional Inspection ……… ……56

7 Difference between the Schools and their Educational Inspection Activities in terms of Inspection Management……… ………57

8 Difference between the Schools and their Educational Inspection Activities in terms

of Complaint Management ……… …….57

9 Relationship of the professional quality of teachers to the Educational Inspection Activities

in terms of Professional Inspection ……….……… ………58

10 Relationship of the professional quality of teachers to the Educational Inspection Activities in terms of Inspection Management……… 59

11 Relationship of the professional quality of teachers to the Educational Inspection Activities in terms of Complaint Management……….…………60

12 Relationship of the Performance of Students to the Educational Inspection Activities

in terms of Professional Inspection ……… ………61

13 Relationship of the Performance of Students to the Educational Inspection Activities

in terms of Inspection Management……… ………… 62

14 Relationship of the Performance of Students to the Educational Inspection Activities

in terms of Complaint Management ……… …………63

Title: STRATEGIES TO IMPROVE THE QUALITY OF

EDUCATIONAL INSPECTION ACTIVITIES IN THANH HOA PROVINCE

Degree Doctor of Philosophy, Development Education

Nam/ Address of the

Institution

Southern Luzon State University

Graduate School

Lucban, Quezon

Date Completed April, 2014

ABSTRACT

This study on “Strategies to Improve the Quality of Educational Inspection Activities

in ThanhHoa Province” was conducted to find out the strength and weaknesses of educational training qu ality of all school levels in ThanhHoa Province during the Academic Year 2012-

2013, and then to offer suitable measures to improve the quality of educational management Specifically, this study sought to

(1) Determine the level of educational inspection activities as to:

• Professional inspection

• Inspection management

• Complaint management

(2) Find out the educational quality of the respondent schools as to

• Educational qualifications of teachers

Based on the data gathered, the following are the findings of the researcher:

1 The level of educational inspection activities in terms of professional inspection shows that all the teachers in ThanhHoa Province were always using standard grade equivalent with a mean score of 5.00 Teachers were also often pursuing their graduate studies with a mean score of 4.40 And in ThanhHoa, only few teachers were observed to retain or make their student in competent level with a mean score of 1.98 In general, the professional inspections in ThanhHoa were sometimes observed with grand mean of 3.32

While on the level of educational inspection activities in terms of inspection management, it shows that the management of the schools in ThanhHoahave always set specific date for the examination And the administrative activities of the principal and the school managing board were always abided to the instruction of the education and training branch But the transparency on school finances among students, staff and parents were sometimes observed In general, the inspection management was oftenly observed with weighted mean of 3.89

And, on the level of educational inspection activities in terms of complaint management, it shows that unresolved complains are often directly referred to the highest education management with mean score of 4.26 But they are sometimes resolved immediate

remedy in five working days with mean score of 2.66 In general, complaint management inspections were sometimes observed with grand mean of 3.30

2 Considering the quality of the respondent schools in terms of educational qualifications of teachers, data shows that out of a total of two-hundred eighty-nine (289) teachers who taught in the said province, twenty-six percent (26%) had already attained their master’s degree and the rest seventy-four percent (74%) were still at their bachelor’s degree This presents the distribution of the ten schools in ThanhHoa Province based on the highest educational attainment of the employed teachers

Whilst the educational quality of the respondents’ school as to the performance of the students, data shows that the students in high school of ThanhHoaperforms 70 to 75 percent in classroom level, 50 to 65 percent in inter-school level and only 25 to 35 percent got into regional level; the students’ performance in secondary school was 40 to 50 percent in classroom-level, 35 to 40 percent performance in inter-school level and 15 to 20 percent performance in provincial level And, data shows that the performances of the students in primary schools was 45 to 55 percent in classroom level, 40 to 50 percent in inter-school level and 20 to 35 percent were in provincial level

3 In view of the significant difference of the educational inspection activities in terms

of professional inspection of the ten schools, results show that the observed professional inspection were significantly different from the ten schools Having p-value of 0.031 that is less than to its threshold value of 0.05 leads to the rejection of the null hypothesis; thus, the ten schools in ThanhHoa Province have different level on their educational inspection activities in professional inspection

Considering the significant difference of the educational inspection activities in terms

of inspection management of the ten schools, it shows that the observed inspection management was the same as observed in the ten schools in ThanhHoa Having p-value of 0.246 that is greater than to its threshold value of 0.05 leads to the acceptance of the null

hypothesis; thus, the ten schools in ThanhHoa Province have same level on their educational inspection activities in inspection Management

While on the significant difference of the educational inspection activities in terms of complaint management to the ten schools, it shows that the observed complaint management was the same as observed in the ten schools in ThanhHoa Having p-value of 0.103 that is greater than to its threshold value of 0.05 leads to the acceptance of the null hypothesis; thus, the ten schools in ThanhHoa Province have same level on their educational inspection activities in complaint Management

On the significant relationship of the professional quality of teachers to the level of the educational inspection activities of the school in terms of professional inspection, it shows that the educational degree of the teachers in ThanhHoa Province doesn’t affect the level of professional inspection that the school was observed Having p-value of 0.747 that is greater than to their threshold value of 0.05 leads to the acceptance of the null hypothesis; thus, the level of the educational inspection activities of the school in terms of professional inspection doesn’t affect by the educational degree of the teacher

Chapter I INTRODUCTION

Vietnamese education is a socialist education with popular, national, scientific, and modern characteristics wherein educational activities are conducted on the principles of learning coupled with practice, education linked with production, theories connected to practicability, and education at schools combined with education in the family and in the society (Education Law in Vietnam, 2005) Educational development is the first national priority with a view of improving people’s knowledge, training manpower, and fostering talents It must be linked with the requirements of socio-economic development, to the scientific-technological advances,and to the consolidation of national defense and security; must implement standardization, modernization, and socialization; must ensure the balance in terms of qualifications, professional and regional structure; must expand scale on the basis of quality and efficiency assurance; and must link education with employment

In terms of State management of education, it is written in the Education Law in Vietnam Chapter 1,Article 14 that: the State shall carry out the unified management of the national educational system in terms of goals, programmes, contents, educational plans, teachers’ standards, examination regulations and system of degrees/diplomas; focus on the management of educational quality, exercise decentralization on educational management; strengthen the autonomy and accountabilities of educational institutions

In view of this, the educational management staff is expected to play an important role

in organizing, managing and directing educational activities; they must study and improve themselves continuously in terms of moral standards, qualifications, management competence and personal responsibility The State therefore shall have plan to build and improve the quality of educational management staff in order to promote roles and

responsibilities of educational management staff, ensuring the development of the cause of education

To meet the requirements of the country’s goals in national education, it is necessary and urgent to review and apply some applicable innovation strategies and policies in education and training in the way it is pointed out by Vietnam Government To strengthen education and training career, first and foremost the educational management in the country must be improved

However, managing education involves other problems Many documents have emphasized the importance of changing educational systems in general and educational inspection in particular, which are the most vital stage in managing education In this context,

it is the sole responsibility of the educational management staff to submit to the government major guidelines affecting learningrights and duties of citizens nationwide, orientations for reform of educational management related to the whole educational levels

Since the birth of social science, many scientific fields of the inspection have been discussed According to C.Mac-Anghen (2009), "inspection is a process that requires the government management in developing individuals to perform better" On the other hand, Wanga noted (2008) that inspection can be conceptualized as overseeing, which involves directing, controlling, reporting, commanding, and other such activities that emphasize the task at hand and assess the extent to which particular objectives have been accomplished within the bounds set by those in authority for their subordinates

During the first inspection conference held on April 19, 1955, Ho Chi Minh, the Vietnam President said: "Through inspection, it helps the inspectors see if the given policies and missions have been completed successfully."Inspecting regularly can minimize the misinterpretation of the education management policies of any organizations

Inspection is an important stage of the entire educational management of the government It enables leaders to evaluate their own leadership and other authorized officials

to find out the most effective ways of management in line with the policies set by the government Many countries throughout the world have developed some means of monitoring the quality and standards of their education systems In most cases, the monitoring process involves supervision by inspection of educational institutions such as schools, and other aspects of the education systems The critical role of inspection as one of the dominant strategies for monitoring and improving the performance of education system in schools cannot be overemphasized Inspection is concerned, in the main, with the improvement of standards and quality of education and should be an integral part of a school improvement program In many countries where inspectoral system of supervision of schools

is conducted, the responsibility for inspection lies with the Inspectorates School inspection practices, especially in Third World countries, such as Vietnam, are associated with numerous problems which, as a result, strength its attempts to improve education quality into the background

To quote the Decision of the 2nd Central Committee Communist Party III, the main targets of the educational management are "Innovation of management mechanisms, training the manpower, improving the capacity of education and training, in order to complete the inspection system of education, increase the number of inspectors, and focus on professional inspection." Inspection is a professional activity, so it is a must to have professional training Each officer in the inspection system must be proficient enough to understand his/her own tasks Also, as noted by Hargreaves (2010), inspection is a powerful way of monitoring the education system, tracking standards and performance levels over a period of time, and of identifying schools’ failures

In 1990, the State Council (now Chairman of the Convention) issued a system of inspection which included the state inspectors, home affairs inspectors, and educational inspectors Then, in 1992 the Council of Office (now the Government) issued Decree 358/HDBT, which provided the educational inspection system to include the state inspectors, home affairs inspectors, and educational inspectors

In 2004, the Vietnam Government issued another inspection law which replaced the

1990 Inspection Law It stated that the inspection system shall consist the following: government inspectors, state inspectors, educational inspectors, provincial inspectors, and district inspectors

Effectiveness of the inspection includes management measures of inspection, considering the inspectors' cooperation in reaching the set out objectives and missions with less time and money Effective inspection is closely linked with effective management governance taking into consideration that inspection task is an essential stage of effective management At the same time, effective inspection depends heavily on the composition of team of inspectors Adequate and sufficient number of inspectors plays an important factor in contributing to the effectiveness of inspection However, due to limited number of regular or permanent inspectors, other inspection team workers are assigned to assist the permanent inspectors when necessary Besides enhancing the team of inspectors, building qualified inspection team is also very vital

Background of the Study

In recent years, the inspection of Department of Education and Training in Thanh Hoa has remarkably changed For instance, it has directed educational institutions to contribute to the improvement of management efficiency Inspection has identified the targets and its responsibilities to continuously improve management performance in order to strengthen the quality of education in general and the quality of inspection activities in all high schools in

particular However, inspection activities are still unreliable For example, there are inspectors and inspection team workers who are not experienced enough to perform their tasks To overcome these restrictions to meet the requirements of future inspection activities, the Department of Education and Training in Thanh Hoa needs to increase the number of inspectors, especially the inspection team workers who are qualified to change the inspection management

In 2003, Mr Quang Anh and Mr Ha Dang published their book: “Some essential knowledge of inspection and examination of education and training” to summarize some basic problems of education and training inspection {1} In 2006, Mr Ha TheTruyen wrote

on “Examining-inspection and evaluating in education” that this book is an important content

of professional competence for examining and inspection work in school

To do this, it is vital that Thanh Hoa Province should carry out suitable measures to enhance the inspection in order to uplift the quality of all schools in the long-term stability Moreover, a number of studies on Ph.D Educational Management that dealt about educational inspection in the training inspections course were conducted with focus about inspection, examining and providing further knowledge for the inspection staff Said topics and articles were specifically focused on the typical issues of inspection work, but the main aspect of inspection is examining the teachers, schools and the managing strategy on inspection’s work, and other valuable and useful documents However, none of them discussed the details and conducted specific research about the ways on how to train and develop inspection staff regarding the national education system in general and the education

of ThanhHoa in particular In view of this, building and developing the inspection staff is really necessary; hence, there is a need to conduct a research both in theory and reality on educational inspection activities in Thanh Hoa This topic, therefore, is considered urgent to contribute ideas and strategies in developing the skills of inspection staff, equip enough

quantity time for inspection, establish identical structure, having professional skills and attain the required knowledge based on international standards, and provide positive contribution

to improve the education management in general and Thanh Hoa’s education and training in particular

Based on theoretical research and assessment of the status of the professional inspection in Thanh Hoa Province, the researcher proposed some measures to build and develop a team of professional inspectors for the enhancement of professional inspection activities, which may contribute to improving the educational management as well as the quality of teaching and learning in all school levels in Thanh Hoa Province

For these reasons, the researcher chose the title: "Strategies to Improve the Quality of

Educational Inspection Activities in Thanh Hoa Province."

Objectives of the Study

The main purpose of this study was to find out the strengths and weaknesses of educational training quality of all school levels in Thanh Hoa Province during the Academic Year 2012-2013, and then offer suitable measures to improve the quality of education management

Specifically, the study sought to:

1 Determine the level of educational inspection activities as to

1.1 professional inspection

1.2 inspection management

1.3 complaint management;

2 Find out the educational quality of the respondent schools as to

2.1 Educational qualifications of teachers

2.2 Performance of students;

3 Determine whether there is a significant difference between school’s educational inspection along the following:

Significance of the Study

This study was carried out with the aim of finding out the weaknesses of the educational training quality and propose suitable measures to improve the quality of education in all school levels in Thanh Hoa Province

In this context, this study would be beneficial to the following:

Administrators This study will serve as an effective tool in managing the school

educational inspection activities and will be helpful in the strategic planning activities In addition, this will provide them valued information concerning quality education management, hence, they will be able to adapt development programs for the future

Teachers It is necessary for them to be aware of their responsibilities in performing

their duties and responsibilities for the improvement and upliftment of the education quality

of the schools

Students This study will provide the students better understanding of the importance

of hard work, thus, improving their knowledge as well as the quality of learning

Researcher The researcher as a candidate for Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) in

Educational Management Degree, this study will enhance his knowledge about educational

management

Future Researchers This can serve as reference materials for future researches similar

to this

Scope and Limitations

The study was focused on the investigation of the status of educational inspection activities covering ten (10) schools in Thanh Hoa Province

The researcher used questionnaires as an instrument of the study and likewise conducted a survey on professional inspection activities Further, an interview to managers and teachers as respondents was also undertaken to determine the performance of their respective schools in terms of students performances

Then, the educational experts were requested to assess the reliability of the result of inspection activities

After finding out the factors that affect the educational quality of selected 10 schools in ThanhHoa Province, the researcher proposed suitable measures to improve the educational inspection activities The time duration of the study was from April to October, 2013

Definition of Terms

For a better understanding of this study, the following terms are defined operationally and conceptually:

Complaint Management It refers to the inspection of misbehaviors of teachers and

staff in education activities and educational management

Educational Inspection Activities Having a more desirable and excellent quality or

condition and making something better In this study, it denotes to the attributes of the status

of educational inspection activities of Thanh Hoa Province It is concerned with the

improvement of standards and quality of education and should be integral part of a school

improvement program

Educational Qualifications of Teachers It refers to the level of trainings and

accomplishments of teachers which are considered contributory to the successful

implementation of educational goals of the school (Vietnam Education Law, 2004)

Inspection Management It refers to the supervision on how to handle educational

matters, events, problems, complaints of the school’s constituents to protect the individuals in education (Vietnam Education Law, 2004)

Professional Inspection It refers to the expertise of the educational inspector as well

as students’ performance and training(McGlynn and Stalker, 2005)

Performance of Students It refers to the level of development and accomplishments

of students based on the set standards of the school as approved by the Ministry of Education

and Training (Vietnam Education Law, 2004)

Strategies Refers to plans or approaches that are applicable in addressing or giving

solution to problems met

Chapter II REVIEW OF LITERATURE AND STUDIES

This chapter presents the relevant readings and literature which bear the significance and similarities in this study This also includes the paradigm that could help the readers to fully understand the context of this study

Educational Inspection Activities

The United States of America takes a special importance to educational development

to maintain the unique position of economy, technology and science It is shown by the numerous financial development and sharing of their society and nation In the message to the US nation on 4th February 1997, Mr Bill Clinton said that: “I want to give out the need for a significant contribution to take our country into 21st era, to maintain our economy, promote education, technology and science.” In this regard, one strategy for monitoring teaching and learning in schools and for enhancing quality and raising standards which has received a great deal of attention over the years concerns supervision by inspection to effectively respond to the needs of learners, updating of knowledge and skills, and transferring of technology

In the United Kingdom, Clegg and Billington (2004) stated that in reflecting on the practice of inspection by the Office For Standards in Education (OFSTED), Britain, a major purpose of inspection is “to collect a range of evidence, mark the evidence against a statutory set of criteria, arrive at judgments and make those judgments known to the public” Moreover, they opined in reflecting on the British Education (Schools) Act 1992, noted that the role of inspection in Britain is to monitor the standards, quality, efficiency, and ethos of the schools and to inform the government and the general public on these matters Further to this, McGlynn and Stalker (2005), who wrote about the process of school inspection in

Scotland, cited the following three reasons for conducting school inspection These are to: (a) report on the effectiveness of education in schools and other educational institutions and

to recommend action for improvement; (b) evaluate the arrangements for assuring quality in schools; and (c) provide frank and objective advice to the higher education authorities and to ensure that educational initiatives are implemented effectively Additionally, Wilcox and Gray (1994), in a study that explored the reactions of primary teachers, headteachers, and inspectors to school inspection in three Local Education Authorities (LEA) in Britain, reported that both inspectors and the school staff agreed that inspection had been valuable in reviewing the position of the school and indicating its way forward

According to McGlynn and Stalker (2005), Educational Inspection is concerned with the improvement of standards and quality of education and should be an integral part of a school improvement program The rationale for this improvement is composed of three folds: (a) the universal recognition of the right of every child in every classroom, in every school to receive a high quality education appropriate to their needs and aptitudes; (b) the effectiveness

in education system is a key influence on economic well-being of every nation; and (c) the recognition of the need to equip students with the kind of education that will enable them to contribute to increasingly complex and changing society

In many countries where inspectoral system of supervision of schools is conducted, the responsibility for school inspection lies with the Inspectorates For example, in Scotland,

as explained by McGlynn and Stalker (2005), Her Majesty’s Inspectorate (HMI) is in-charge with the following major inspectoral responsibilities: (a) to undertake a program of inspections of individual schools and colleges and of key aspects of education; (b) to monitor arrangements for quality assurance in education through the Inspectorate’s Audit Unit; (c) to provide frank and objective advice through the Inspectorate’s Chief Inspector of Schools to

the Secretary of State; and (d) to ensure that educational initiatives are implemented effectively

Similarly, in South Africa, as noted by Chetty, Chisholm, Gardiner, Magan, and Vinjevold (2009), the Inspectorate is primarily concerned with and is divided into management functions and advisory services However, they argued, the functional effectiveness in terms of quality of teaching and learning and the instruments used to assess teacher competencies are highly limited

According to Wilcox and Gray (2011), inspection, as a mode of monitoring education, offers the following major benefits: it gives inspectors an opportunity to observe classrooms and, thereby, a better basis for discussing the development of the school with head teachers;

it gives school inspectors an opportunity to learn about the schools, the head teachers, the teachers, the curriculum, and the students and indicates which way forward; it can be a potential learning experience for those involved; it should provide useful information for parents in their choice of schools; it leads to a better understanding of schools; it enhances staff cooperation and public recognition that the school is basically on the right track; and it boosts staff morale

According to Hargreaves (2010), the following four basic assumptions underlie school inspection:1 Inspection is an effective and cost-effective method for improving schools;2 The inspection process leads to a set of recommendations which describe the main areas requiring improvement; 3 Improvement of schools through inspection can be gauged from the extent to which the recommendations are implemented; and, 4 Those in authority know and understand the objectives and goals of the school so well that they can assume

superior academic and professional roles over teachers and pupils

Kipkulei (2010) stated that in Kenya, the responsibility for the education system is vested in the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology Supervision by inspection has

long been and still is a major device employed by the Ministry of Education to monitor education quality in the country The Kenyan philosophy of education embraces “the inculcation of a high quality instruction” (Republic of Kenya, 1999) According to Republic

of Kenya, this quality has been equated with high standards, namely, a set of criteria against which an institution or system is judged Among the determinants of quality on education, Republic of Kenya noted, are the availability of qualified and motivated teachers, a conducive environment for teaching and learning, including the curriculum, facilities, the resources available for their provision, and the tools for evaluation

Commenting on the government’s commitment to ensuring quality through inspection, Kipkulei (2010) stated that the government must be committed to provide sound and effective management and professional services in the administration, supervision, and inspection of education and training programmes, the development and implementation of various curricula, and the production of education materials Moreover, Kipkulei (2010) stated that in Kenya the legal basis of inspection has been entrusted to the Ministry of Education which empowers the Minister of Education to promote the education of the people

of Kenya According to this Act, the management and general control of the school system,

in particular, is the responsibility of the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology The Education Act gives the Minister of Education the power to appoint school inspectors with authority to enter and inspect any school or any place at which it is reasonably suspected that a school is being conducted at any time, with or without notice, and to report to [the Minister] with respect to the school or any aspect thereof

According to Wanga (2008), the main purpose of legal provision for school inspection

is to enable the Education Inspector as representative of the government and the people to satisfy himself that educational standards are being maintained or improved, and that the schools and colleges are being conducted in accordance with national aims and policies

Seen from a legal standpoint, therefore, inspection is an instrument with which the political and administrative authorities maintain a necessary contact with schools, teachers, and the community

According to Okumbe (2004), in some countries, school inspection seems to be viewed as a process of checking other people’s work to ensure that bureaucratic regulations and procedures are followed and that loyalty to the higher authorities are maintained This view of inspection overlooks the professional interests and needs of the teaching personnel Inspection process conducted with this view in mind, may not be effective in facilitating educational quality or in improving teaching and learning in educational institutions

Based on the survey conducted by Kamuyu (2006) in Kenya, he stated that school inspection is conducted for the following six major reasons: (1) To have an overview of the quality of education, based performance indicators of the performance of an educational institution (benchmarks) and to report back to the educational institutions to enable them plan improvement strategies; (2) To supervise the implementation of school curriculum; (3) To help diagnose the problems and shortcomings in the implementation of the curriculum; (4)

To identify some of the discipline problems encountered in schools; (5) To monitor and to improve teaching and learning in schools; and (6) To provide guidance to schools on how they can improve

Moreover, the purposes of inspection may be prompted by the following four major factors : a) agreed inspection plans and work programs at national, provincial, district, divisional, or zonal levels; (b) inspectors’ personal initiatives; (c) adverse reports or anonymous correspondence from the stakeholders and school managers asking for inspection; and (d) follow-up inspection from concerns indicated in the previous inspection report

In most countries in the world, inspection services and report-writing is the responsibility of the Inspectorate, the professional and consultancy arm of the Ministry of

Education The Inspectorate is charged with the responsibility of maintaining and improving educational standards in schools and colleges and, as a result, acts as the Ministry’s intelligence wing, gathering the necessary information to feed the Ministry on the trends in standards obtained in the learning institutions In this regard, the custodian of standards or the Inspectorate must play two major roles: (a) a supervisory role by ensuring on behalf of the Ministry that the laid down procedures and set goals are followed and attained and (b) an advisory or professional role by liaising closely with classroom teachers to attain the required educational standards

The Inspectorate must perform the following two major complementary objectives: (a) quality assurance, achieved through the inspections of institutions and reporting on these inspections to the institutions and to the Ministry and (b) quality development, achieved through the work of the advisory services, the provision of staff development opportunities, and the development of learning and teaching materials, by thy advisory wing of the Inspectorate The education inspectors (or school inspectors) are officials of the Ministry of Education, Science, and Technology charged with the responsibility of identifying and providing feedback on strengths and weaknesses in educational institutions, so that these institutions can improve the quality of education provided and the achievements of their pupils, and who may inspect any educational institution – pre-school, primary, secondary or college, public or private

Chabala (2004) explained that to achieve its inspectoral functions in particular, the Inspectorate endeavors to arrange some visitations to schools by inspectors to carry out general supervision or inspection, including the following activities: (a) checking on educational facilities; (b), monitoring, reviewing, and assessing how well educational standards are being maintained and implemented by teachers and school administrators; and (c) observing classroom teaching by individual teachers to assess their professional

competence for promotion on merit and professional guidance Arising from inspection, service training needs for teachers and headteachers are expected to be identified

in-Mwanzia (2005) said thatbased on the findings of his study, there are problems with the

current inspection practices, as follows:Numerous problems are associated with the present system of school inspection The problems are those associated with the following major areas: (1) professionalism; (2) attitudes and commitment; (3) feedback and follow-up; (4) collaboration; (5) pre-service and in-service training; (6) foci of inspection; (7) Inspectorate autonomy; (8) transport; (9) planning inspection; (10) Inspectorate-university Partnerships; (11) education system; (12) cost of inspection; (13) inspector recruitment, selection, and deployment; (14) adequacy of inspection; (15) resourcing; (16) inspection reports; (17) post-

inspection evaluation; (18) Inspectorate titles

Over the years, the behavior of some school inspectors, especially toward teachers has been criticized by some teachers The major concerns are those associated with unprofessional conduct of school inspectors which, as Sitima (2004) noted, has had serious implications for teaching and learning to the extent that “a private cold war” has developed between teachers and inspectors Some school inspectors have been criticized for being harsh

to teachers and for harassing teachers even in front of their pupils

According to Isolo (2005), many school inspectors have developed the following questionable habits: (a) they look down upon teachers with resentment and suspicion; (b) they demand bribes from teachers in order to make favorable reports; (c) they are dictatorial and have taken the attitude of “do as I say or get in trouble” and (d) they work with unsmiling determination Describing unprofessional conduct of school inspectors, Kamuyu (2006) noted that some inspectors reportedly visit schools to boss and to harass teachers instead of helping them solve professional problems

In the study conducted by Wicox and Gray (2011), they revealed that the unprofessional behavior of some school inspectors has had the following serious negative consequences: (1) Poor relationship between inspectors and teachers; (2) The tendency of teachers to mistrust school inspectors; (3) Teachers have regarded inspection as a stressful experience due to fear of the unknown; (4) Education standards have been compromised because teachers are not given a chance to disapprove inappropriate policies forced on them

by inspectors; (5) A harsh and unfriendly teacher-inspector relationship; (6) Lack of sufficient teacher support ; (7) There is no guarantee that teachers will recognize and accept any shortcomings identified by inspectors; (8) Many teachers and head teachers when advised on impending inspection, are likely to be apprehensive and, consequently, they may decide to put something of a show to impress inspectors; (9) Fear among school personnel; and, (10) Lack of professional commitment on the part of teachers

Furthermore, Kamuyu (2006), commenting about the problem of school inspectors, stated that headteachers and teachers are normally thrown into a panic any time school inspectors are mentioned Maranga (2005), in a study that analyzed school inspectors’ perceptions of teacher-inspector relationship, reported that 75% of the inspectors studied felt that most inspectors portrayed themselves to teachers in such a manner that teachers perceived them as a potential danger to their work and a threat to them

Over the years, school inspectors have had general negative attitude toward inspection and a decided lack of commitment and positive approach to inspection Nakitare’s (2005) In his critical study of supervisory practices, he reported that 5% of the teachers studied believed that some inspectors were not dedicated to their inspectoral duties

The general negativity toward and the lack of commitment to inspection may be attributed to the lack of appropriate incentives associated with inspectoral role of school inspectors As noted by Wanga (2008), there seems to be a lack of recognition for inspectoral

role by the higher government authorities Because of apparent lack of incentives, she noted, there is a lack of commitment and initiatives on the part of school inspectors to their inspectoral roles which has further led to the inspectors performing inadequately

Productive feedback and follow-up initiatives relative to inspection are lacking in the Kenyan inspection system (Wanga 2008) As Wanga noted, opportunities for follow-up regarding recommendations based on inspection, such as the need for in-service training of teachers are badly lacking

In a study that examined primary and secondary teachers’ and head teachers’ perceptions of inspection in 5 local authorities in UK, Dean (2004) reported a lack of feedback to teachers who, as a result, were frustrated Also, teachers in this study agreed that they were disturbed whenever an inspector simply left the lesson without saying anything

Because school inspectors have tended to evaluate teachers based on their own perceptions of teacher performance, teacher involvement on matters regarding school inspection has been very minimal (Wanga, 2008) Opportunities for meaningful dialogue between teachers and inspectors, especially after inspections, are also highly limited

In a critical study of supervisory practices in some schools in Britain,Gray and Gardner (2007) reported that teachers believed that the time spent by inspectors to offer professional support to teachers in schools was usually negligible and ranged between 2 minutes to 5 minutes, that inspectors spent most of their time solving administrative problems with headteachers, and that teachers were never helped as adequately as they should Due to paucity of time at the disposal of school inspectors, the school inspections, wherever held, have become superficial and a mere formality Also, because of inadequate time, the inspectors experience the following two major constraints: (a) they hardly devote their attention to the follow-up action of the inspection reports with the result that the very purpose

of the inspection gets defeated and (b) they find it difficult to maintain themselves abreast

with the latest development in their subject areas

Thomas, G (2006) suggested that several strategies may be employed to improve the

system of school inspection in most developing countries These are presented in this section

in the following major themes: (1) professionalism; (2) attitudes and commitment; (3) feedback and follow-up; (4) collaboration; (5) pre-service and in-service training; (6) foci of inspection; (7) transport; (8) planning inspection; (9) Inspectorate-university partnerships; (10) education system; (11) incentives and motivation; (12) inspector recruitment, selection, and deployment; (13) adequacy of inspection; (14) resourcing; (15) inspection reports; (16) evaluating inspection; and (17) alternative terms

School inspectors should endeavor to be as professional as possible in their inspection practices (Olembo et.al 2004) This includes an attempt to: (a) provide objective judgments

of teacher and headteacher performance; (b) establish a friendly and interactive atmosphere with teachers and headteachers; and (c) cultivate a harmonious working relationship with teachers and headteachers

Also, in advocating for professional inspection, Bowen (2009) suggested that school inspectors must change with the times, shift from their traditional crude image and do their work objectively, professionally, and with courtesy Related to this, in a critical study of supervisory practices in Kimilili Division of Bungoma District, Nakitare (2005) reported that 45% of the teachers studied suggested that supervisors should be more friendly in their approach to inspection than they were at the time of the study Professionalization of the Inspectorate, thus, is an urgent need of the present day in order to give a new turn to the inspection system prevailing in Kenya

The provision of feedback regarding findings of inspection (Kamuyu 2006), especially to schools inspected, should be ongoing during the process of inspection This

should include providing oral feedback to head teachers, to teachers, and to other school personnel, with opportunities for discussions and reflections with the key stakeholders, such

as boards of governors, school committees, and sponsors

As Olembo et al (2004) suggested, teachers should be part and parcel of inspectoral activities and should be informed about the following six major aspects of inspection: (a) when to expect an inspection; (b) the nature, type, and purpose of inspection; (c) evaluation format; (d) inspection results; (e) commendable aspects of the teachers’ performance; and (f) areas of improvement and strategies for making the improvements In this collaboration, Olembo et al noted, teachers’ feelings, aspirations, and attitude toward inspection results should be considered

Bowen (2009) suggested that In-service training is important in creating awareness on the part of inspectors and teachers regarding their respective roles in inspection and in facilitating healthy human relations Similarly, the training and development of the school inspectors on a systematic basis is critical so that they are able to meet effectively the new challenges of education and shoulder with confidence new responsibilities they are required

to perform in a developing country Furthermore, Bowen (2004) suggested that collaboration with other agencies that are involved in teacher education is necessary, with a view to facilitating in-service training

Findings of a few local studies have also expressed the need for in-service training, especially of headteachers For example, Nakitare (1980), in a critical study of supervisory practices in Kimilili Division of Bungoma District, Kenya, reported that 18% of the teachers studied felt that head teachers should be in serviced in order to update their knowledge of all the subjects taught in schools This training would perhaps facilitate the head teachers’ roles relative to school inspection by enabling them to provide objective and realistic feedback to external school inspectors

According to Nakitare (2004), there are three major benefits of pre-inspection preparation, especially by schools: (a) It provides the school with an opportunity to engage in review process; (b) it enables the inspection to be based on the evidence provided on the school; and (c) it puts teachers on their toes to prepare adequately for inspectors’ visits The usefulness of pre-inspection preparation has also been highlighted elsewhere For example, Thomas (2006), in a study that surveyed head teachers, deputies, heads of departments, and class teachers regarding their views about the process of school inspection and its effects in three different Local Education Authorities (LEAs), UK, reported that participants studied agreed that preparation process of inspection had brought the whole staff together and also improved their schools and certain aspects of their work

There is need to facilitate partnerships between the local universities and the

Inspectorate to enable university faculty to assist with in-service training Such partnerships may also enable university teaching staff to collaborate with school inspectors in conducting studies relevant to inspection in schools and colleges

Inspection experience in France

The Inspection of education in France was found very early (nineteenth century), in parallel with the establishment of the school Initially, the function of the inspection is to check the curriculum, then, developed into checking the functions of educational staffs and the pedagogical evaluation

Nowadays, the French inspections, apart from personal inspection, take on new tasks:

to promote the implementation of the educational paths planned by lawmakers and to analyze national or regional educational environment and school’s plans

The two major types of inspection are:

1 The Inspection general - - The Inspection general of the national education department advises the Minister and participates in the evaluation of the whole education

system, builds up the annual reports on educational situation Each inspection general is a member of a professional group In each educational region, an inspection general is appointed as a "regional representative" to ensure a good contact between the Ministry and the regions

- Department of Inspection general of National Education (IGEN) proposes and makes suggestions to the minister of national education They are responsible for evaluating the structure of the school network, its adaptation toward our training needs, the use of human resources, the organization and operation of facilities and the property management

2 Local inspection - Local inspections, who are under the control of the director of regional education, assume responsibility of evaluating pedagogically high school teachers: Four tasks of Local inspections:

- Promote mission: Play a key role as a bridge in the implementation of national

educational paths Inspections monitor the use of educational paths and notifications of the regional education Moreover, Inspections give the objective assessment of educational conditions of particular regions for the implementation of national educational paths

- Evaluation mission: The inspection is responsible for the overall evaluation of

policies or institutions: the operation of the school, a particular way These activities require a careful work

- Mission of personnel inspection, checking the compliance with the school

curriculum: The inspection was conducted based on the expertise and capacity of inspections

as well as teachers

- Regular task in the field of promoting teaching, training, personnel and determine

learning outcomes The inspections play an advisory role together with teachers, especially

for those who are responsible for implementing innovative programs, innovative methods

To get the task done, inspections base on inspection and meetings of the teachers instructed

by regional inspections or national inspections

The area inspections, regional inspections and national inspections are recruited through auditions Participants were appointed inspections probation for two years During this time, they follow a training rotation at the training centers of the region

2.1 Teacher Inspection

Pedagogical testing and evaluation

In general, a pedagogical inspection is organized in three steps: Observe and judge a lesson; The observation of the inspection general mainly depends on the evaluating table (implicitly or explicitly) The evaluation depends on the pedagogical opinion of inspections, which will be clarified in later chapters

Education Inspection Activities in Vietnam

When the communist party and government of Vietnam were young, the leaders showed their care and worry about education, the ignorance (because of lack of education) was seen as dangerous and as aggressors Nowadays, it’s considered as “the first national policy”, everybody shared their contribution to improve the country’s education because they are sure that “education is the foundation for developing science and engineering, likewise, education is the origin of prosperous people and powerful country, with equitable and democratic society”

On 29th October 1988, Vietnam’s Ministry of Education (now Ministry of Education and Training) promulgated the 1019th regulation of organizing and operating of inspection at educational system On the 28th September, the Board of Ministers (at present, the government)issued a Decision 358th/HDBT decree of educational inspection’s organization strategy After that, the Minister of Education and Training signed the 478th QD resolution on the 11th of March 1993 about the organization of rules of inspection of the system of

education and training In December 1988, the Socialist Republic of Vietnam’s educational law came out into society, as stipulated in the 4th item, section 7, from 98th to 103rd point, the duties, responsibilities, authority of educational inspection and inspectional subject were pointed out obviously

On the 20th October 2006, the Ministry of Education and Training issued the

43rd/2006/TT-BGDDT circular purposely to lead in school’s inspection and some education units, teaching activities as well Until now, there are many writers who gave their opinions about inspection and examination in education in general and work in developing educational inspection staff in particular

In view of the opinion of Ha The Ngu (the article on 4th NCGD magazine-2004)

“Examining is considering from the fact to find out the discrepancy with resolution, plan and accepted standard, discover actual state, comparing this state with the previous acceptable standard, and improving this problem as soon as possible

Examination activity is carried out regularly, broadly in the fact With social life, examining can help each person to have a behavior suitable with him/her purpose and satisfy the public requirement In the government, examining is an essential content of management

By examining, the managerial object adjust their behavior to the purpose, government managing responsibility, higher managing instruction can look for the work of carrying out the duties of upper instruction Educational examining plays an important effect to the quality and quantity of educational products in management, examine can show the present situation, the result of school and the management of principle, comparing this fact with the school’s regulation and related documents in professional activities is a necessary step on educational management, because we can consider from carrying out the duty and result of teachers are good or not, the examining result is main criterion to evaluating, consulting and promoting

The topic on inspection based on Vietnamese dictionary (Ha Noi Social Science publishing house)- 2002refers to control, examine in local office, company, and it is defined also as a job, name of position of the people who do the inspection In the decree law, inspection refers to the essential function of educational managing staff, it carries out democratic socialist right.” (TT decree law)

In this, it is clearly stated that inspection hasthe governmental element of higher managing instruction with the upper organization and individual which were conducted by inspections instruction This organization will check enforcing governmental policy, duty and plan of each company, office or individual to promote the positive factor, prevent and handle infringement, improve managing structure, intensify socialist legislation, protect government benefits, the legal right of company, instruction, organization and individual

Examination and inspection are similar in terms of the purpose By examining and inspection, the people can prove their good virtue, find out or prevent the problem, promote and finish their responsibility of government managing Examination and inspection will find out and analyze the fact in a correct, honest way, point out the reason and give the suitable solution to improve and handle the problem

The content of examination is more easily recognized, but the content of inspection is more varied and complicated However, the distinguishing feature is fairly correct, because in fact there is a lot of examination problems which are not simple So, the problem about examination or inspection should be considered on specific details

The first object of inspection is government professional inspection institution With this, the government competence in instruction maybe set up into inspection staff to inspection of the managing competence which was set by law The object of conducting examination is more varied, because examination activity is conducted regularly and broadly In examination work, all of the institutions, offices, among others can be the object

of examination The government managerial instruction, economic organization, union, and armed forces need to examine their activities It is necessary that each individual has to undergoa series of examination of their activities and behavior as well

Strategies in Educational Inspection Activities

Mr Nguyen Ngoc Quang-the author of “Fundamental Concepts of Educational Managing Theory”- the college of central managing staff-1989, stated that managing sequence includes 5 stages: preparing, planning, directing, organizing and examining Examining is the last period of this sequence, it holds a mutual connection and helps the managerial object to control the management system in the best way, and we can say that “if there is no examination, no management will exist”

According to Mr Dang Quoc Bao- writer of “The basic problems of educational management”- which was inserted on “Some problems of government and education management”- central college of training managerial staff-1988, educational management have four (4) specific functions: planning, guiding, operating and examining, in which

“examination” has the relationship with summarizing educational and adjusting purpose

With regards to school management, the writer of “Managing Universal School”-Mr Tran Kiem stated that, the effect of school managing defend very much on moderation using objective information from the headmaster who serves as the overall and most reliable person in managing a school, and he can provide sufficient information to the teachers about the amount of knowledge, the education rate and discipline of students The objective information is mainly taken from results of the inspection activity

Based on Education Law in Vietnam, Section 4-Article 111, the education inspectorate shall have the following functions: (1) Inspecting of compliance with education laws; (2) Inspecting the implementation of educational goals, plans, program, contents and methods, professional regulations, the compliance with regulations on examinations, diploma

and certificate issuance; the completion of necessary conditions of educational quality assurance at educational institutions; (3) Performance of complaint and denunciation settlement in education according to regulations of laws on complaints and denunciations; (4) Handling of administrative violations in education in accordance with the law on administrative violation handling; (5) Proposal of measures to ensure educational law enforcement; amendments and supplements to the State policies and regulations on education; and, (6) Perform other duties in accordance with other regulations of laws

Considering the issues and concerns on educational inspection activities, lots of ideas were elicited from the articles on “educational management information magazine”, wherein lessons in inspection of training class in central college of training managerial staff were taken, which were written by Mr Luu Xuan Moi, Mr Nguyen Trong Hau, Mr Duong Chi Trong

With regards to the Examination and Inspection, the Vietnamese dictionary- Ha Noi Social Science publishing house- 1992 defines examination as “ a form of evaluation and commentaries”, and in addition, “examining” means to understand that a type of activity of give out the comment, evaluate and take an effect, adjusting human activities which is suitable with the purpose to their needs

Inspection requires professional skill, broadly on social and economic knowledge, with extensive ability of the inspection’s criteria If only that the inspection can discover the depth

of each problem, collect information and evidence to check, contrast, analyze and evaluate the situation and eventually to come up with an objective final conclusion For the reason that the scope of examination is not as complicated as inspection and the object of examination is broader, popular, in general, the standard of inspection skill is higher in scope

The ranging activities of examination are widely done, and carried out in many places

of varied types But the ranging activities of inspection are smaller because it is selected In general, with each rank, the quantity of inspection topic and the inspection place is fewer

In inspection, more problems in terms of inspection are encountered However, if we compare inspection with survey, we may take more time in conducting survey than inspection, but the final average of inspection is longer

Based on the article published by Dang Xuan Hai (2005), there are several reasons for inadequate inspection: (a) understaffing of inspectors; (b) heavy workloads; and (c) time

constraint

Considering the mutual relations between examination and inspection, the distinguishing differences between examination and inspection are considered relative since more activities are needed Otherwise, examination is carried out to survey about inspection Examination and inspection deal with different concepts but they have the mutual relation So that, when we talk about a definition, we will mention to a couple of concepts as examination and inspection or inspection and examination

The examination content is ordinarily easy to realize and vice versa and that the inspection contents are often more diverse and complex However, this distinction is only relative, so in fact there are cases of examination which are not completely simple Therefore, matters pertaining to examination or inspection should be based on the content of the specific case to determine its differences

- The differences in the entities

The subject of the inspection is firstly the organization of the professional state inspection In addition, in case of necessary, the competent state agencies also set up inspection associations in order to inspect in accordance with the management authority stipulated by law Whereas, the subject of examination is more diverse because of multiform examination content operated regularly In managing task, all agencies and units are subject of inspection The state management agencies, economic organizations,

the unions, the armed forces are responsible for their self-test operation Everyday, everyone made their test activities

- The differences in professional qualifications

Inspection activities require professional inspectors who must have excellent knowledge

of the socio-economic, capableness of specialty in the fields that inspection concerns Thus, it could explore the depth of the case, collect information, evidence in order to verify, compare, analyze, and evaluate situations, and then give accurate and objective results In general, the professional qualification of examination is not necessary to be required as highly as the professional qualification of inspection because the content of the examination operation is less complicated than inspection operation and the examination subjects includes large forces having characteristic of masses However, the discrimination between examination and inspection level is only relative

- The differences in the scope of activities

The scope of examination activities is often in breadth, taking place continuously everywhere with many diverse forms and having mass nature while the scope of inspection activities is more limited by selection Generally, at each level, the number of inspection themes and locations is less than the number of examination themes and locations

- The differences in time of conducting

During the inspection, there are often more problems to verify and compare meticulously, and many relationships need to be made clear, so it requires a longer time compared to the examination operation If we compare each individual examination, it sometimes lasts longer than an inspection, however, with a general view, the time of inspection is longer than the examination time

+ The reciprocal relationship between test and inspection:

The distinction between examination and inspection is relative when conducting inspections,

we often must carry out examination activities Conversely, we sometimes check to clarify cases or matters, and then select the content to inspect Examination and inspection are two different concepts but they are related to each other Thus, when coming to any concept, people often refer to both of them with the names: examination or inspection

The role of education inspection in educational administration

"Education Inspection is an inspection of education specialty Education inspections have the power to inspect in the state management of education, in order to ensure law enforcement, promote positive factors, prevent and handle violations, and protect the interests

of the state, the legitimate rights of organizations and individuals in the field of education” was written in Article 1 of Decree 101/2002/ND-CP on December 10th, 2002 of the Government on the organization and operation of educational inspection

As a result, education inspection serves as a specialized inspection, implementing the state inspection of education and training, revealing state power, and ensuring democracy and discipline in education and training activities It has characteristics of administrative - laws - state Organizations of education inspection are stipulated by law, and appointed by superiors, operating in accordance with the law

In the current period, to achieve the purpose of "improving the overall quality of education", contribute to raising the awareness, training of human resources, fostering talent, the State shall promote all available potential and expand international cooperation in education and training Therefore, the State has implemented socialized policy of education and training in order to expand the range of subjects involved in this field Not only organizations and individuals in the country, but also foreign organizations and individuals; not only the education and training but other organizations which have the education and training activities also participate in education and training activities in a certain range