Quality Assurance in The State Sector |
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Round Table Presentation at the ECML Workshop 3/2002Recorded by Mary Rose Many countries in Europe are experiencing a period of educational reform; within these wide ranging reforms school improvement programmes are promoting strategies for quality assurance. Increasingly, individual countries are moving from a system of external inspection to one which builds collaboration with schools and teachers. This is enabling institutions to develop systems and processes for internal self-assessment and self evaluation. For example, in Slovenia this process of self-assessment is extended to include pupils and parents. In Malta, training in self-evaluation has been provided by the Ministry of Education for all schools and the Slovak Republic provides an example of the changing role of State Inspectors. The issues of quality and standards lie at the heart of these developments. The following examples, initially given during a State Sector Round Table presentation in Graz, from the Czech Republic, Iceland, Norway, The Slovak Republic, Malta and Slovenia indicate the diversity of practice between countries in both the systems being introduced and the stages of development reached. Whole country and individual school practice is illustrated through the examples. This is a sample from those presentations.
Viera is a teacher trainer in the Faculty of Arts at Comenius University in Bratislava. As a result of discussions with the Inspectorate Viera described current school practice in the Slovak Republic. Increasingly the main evaluative responsibility is being handed over to schools. The system has two strong strands;
Currently members of the Inspectorate are coaching teachers to carry out internal assessment. Many teachers still find it difficult to describe their practice. Quality Quality of Teaching
Quality of Learning
Questionnaires for teachers have been developed which examine aims, curriculum, syllabus etc, these help assess what needs to be changed. Lesson observations Methodology Centre There is continued debate about creative approaches to teaching and how this may be assessed. This is part of Viera's continuing work
No official authority monitoring takes place eg no inspectors. Individual schools may be working on their own quality control systems. Individual School Example A. classes
As a result we discussed B. Students This is being analysed and will be presented at a staff meeting this autumn. Ms Helena Ocenaskova There are both private and state schools across the country. Helena teaches in a state language school for adults. Her institution offers 29 languages. In her presentation Helena raised important questions: What can influence public opinion with regard to language teaching? The better the publicity, the better the provision? Is this representative of quality?
Zdenka is an early foreign language teacher. She provided an example of quality development from her own school, where there has been an increase in the focus on quality in language teaching. Formerly quality assurance for schools was external. However, following reforms quality assurance processes are being used internally and build on self assessment. Towards the end of the primary school pupils choose a second foreign language. The pupils are divided into 3 teaching groups according to their ability; teaching methods are adjusted to match. Teachers work together in teams. Zdenka works in a team of 3. Self assessment is supported by a strong system of feedback; i. feedback from colleague teachers This quality circle enables teachers to meet consumers' needs. More extended case studies are provided from Malta,
Slovenia and Norway. |
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