The role of school district inspectors

About school inspectors

The name "school inspector" suited the job well – they inspected schools! Over time, the focus of inspections changed.At first, they mainly checked how government money was being spent. Later, they began supporting teachers as a mentor or assistant, helping them grow professionally.

Together, inspectors were known as the inspectorate. For many years, the inspectorate was the department’s main way of checking how teachers, students and schools were performing¹

How the role changed over time

Before 1848, school inspectors mostly made sure schools claimed the right amount of funding based on the number of enrolled students. They did not did not control teaching methods, but they could comment on school management or concerns about teacher behaviour.²

In 1848, the National School system started. In 1852, the Select Committee on Education said that school inspectors also needed to make sure that schools were being well run. The committee said that this could only be done by inspectors who were well educated and trustworthy, and that what was required was "…the vigilant and constant attention of the Inspectors, men of literary attainments, whose characters should form the guarantee for their fidelity and impartiality."³

In 1858, the school inspectors started testing teacher’s skills. By 1860, inspectors were expected to report on 8 key areas:

Buildings
Apparatus
Organisation
Instruction
Discipline
Methods
Teachers
Special aspects

In 1864, school authorities instituted a plan to pay teachers by the results of their students. School inspectors had to test students to judge how well teachers were performing.⁴

After 1904, inspectors began supporting teachers instead of just judging them. They were told to help, guide, and encourage teachers, and to influence students in a positive way. Their new instructions were to "not merely … assess the work of the teacher . . . but to use the opportunities . . . to assist, direct, and stimulate the teachers, and to influence for good the work and character of the pupils". Inspectors also began running training events in each district.⁵

Inspectors and official inquiries into major complaints

The 1960 Ramsay Report described inspectors as the "field representatives of the Director of Education".⁶ In 1963, director Frederick Brooks listed their duties. These included:

sharing government policy and advice across their district and making sure teachers understood it
organising groups and committees to encourage local activities
handling minor disputes and grievances, and leading official inquiries into major complaints when needed

advising on the need for new schools and improvements to existing schools.⁷

The Board of Inquiry into historical child sexual abuse in Beaumaris Primary School and certain other government schools found problems with this system. Inspectors, as a 'field representative of the Director', were expected to investigate complaints, but this did not always happen properly. The Board found that protecting a school or teacher’s reputation was often seen as more important than student safety. They noted that "there was a culture of prioritising the education system, including the reputation of schools and teachers, above the safety of children".⁸

Instead of conducting full investigations, inspectors would often move staff to another school.⁹ This practice went back to at least 1882, when a Royal Commission found that teachers accused of “immoral conduct” with students were usually transferred instead of dismissed. The Board of Inquiry found that the department continued to use transfers to manage incidents of child sexual abuse into the mid-1980s.¹⁰

Inspectors had a lot of authority, and school communities found it difficult to question their decisions. Historian Barry Archibald wrote that inspectors “had led somewhat of a charmed life in that they had achieved a privileged position in the Department, had their own separate professional role, received much higher salaries than school principals and as a collective held considerable status within the Education Department and the general public".¹¹

The end of school inspectors

In the 1960s, criticism of the inspectorate grew. In 1964, the Victorian Secondary Teachers Association (VSTA) said the system discouraged creativity and pushed teachers to meet inspectors’ expectations instead of trying new ideas. They said the inspectorial system produced a "soul destroying conformity which did not encourage initiative, and forced teachers to adapt to the whims of the inspector".¹²

From 1970, inspector reports were no longer included in secondary teachers' job applications¹³ , though primary teachers could still request inspections.

Major government changes in the early 1980s let to the end of the inspectorate. The system was formally ended on 31 December 1982.

School inspector records

Many records created by inspectors still exist and may be useful to researchers. They include:

Inspector report books
School Reviews from 1972 to 1984
Post-Primary School Inspection Reports from 1961 to 1978

Inspector Report books

When the Inspector visited a school, they recorded their comments into the Inspector's Report book. The book stayed at the school. Their comments described the state of the school facilities, and teaching quality.

Many Inspector report books are held at the Public Record Office Victoria. Some inspectors' student examination registers are also available.

These records are open to the public. You can search for them using the school’s name. If you can’t find an Inspector Report book for a particular school, contact the department at archives.records@education.vic.gov.au.

School Reviews 1972 to 1984

School Review records contain reports from head teachers and inspectors about how well a school was running.

These records include:

work plans
report sheets
details of fees paid
classes taught
student numbers
accommodation standards.

The records also contain reports about teachers.

These records are located at the Public Record Office Victoria, but are not open to the public because they include personal information. To ask for access to these records, you need to submit a Freedom of Information request.

For more information visit: Freedom of information requests: Department of Education.

Post-Primary School Inspection Reports 1961 to 1978

Post-Primary School Inspection Reports include records made by both head teachers and inspectors to the Board of Inspectors about how well a school was running. They contain the same types of information as the School Review records, including plans, reports, class details, and teacher information.

For more information visit: Freedom of information requests: Department of Education.

Shaping our past video

For 132 years, school inspectors were key in Victoria’s education sector. They connected classrooms to the education department.

The below video reflects on school inspectors and their role in education.

Shaping our past: school inspectors in Victoria

View transcript

Footnotes

Barry Lachlan Archibald. Doctoral Thesis. A History of Inspection in Victorian Colonial/State Government Schools: 1852-2012. Page 7
Vision and Realisation. Volume 1. Page 12
Archibald, Page 58
Vision and Realisation. Volume 1. Page 124
Vision and Realisation, Volume 1, Page 409
Vision and Realisation, Volume 1, Page 412
Vision and Realisation, Volume 1, Page 413
Board of Inquiry into historical child sexual abuse in Beaumaris Primary School and certain other government schools, Chapter 13(opens in a new window)
ibid
ibid
Archibald, Page 7
Archibald, Page 267
Vision and Realisation, Volume 1, Page 567

On this page