‘Drive-by inspection’ motion defeated at teacher convention

Teachers decided they would prefer some inspections of their work to continue unannounced than to have the worry of a week’s notice that some of their colleagues were proposing.

The motion before the Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland convention sought to lobby the Department of Education for a minimum advance notice of a week before inspectors could call on so-called ‘drive-by’ inspections of teachers’ work. Incidental inspections only began for second-level schools in 2011. There were 342 such inspections in 2012.

Many aspects of the inspection regime were widely criticised by delegates, but the motion asking the union to seek a minimum one-week notice period was defeated substantially. Robert Chaney from Kilkenny said he had no problem when someone knocked on his door and said they were sitting in on his lesson.