EDUCATION PROFILE:The new chief inspector at the Department of Education, Dr Harold Hislop, has been appointed at a time of unprecedented concern about academic standards in Irish schools. He is noted for his energy but can he lift school standards, asks GRAÍNNE FALLER
DURING HIS days as a schools inspector, teachers marvelled at Harold Hislop’s work rate. “I remember when Harold was inspecting our school. I was after doing yard duty and I popped into the staffroom for a cup of tea,” one recalls. “The other inspector, a slightly older man, was in there and I said, ‘I don’t know where Harold gets the energy’. The older inspector smiled at me. ‘He’s young,’ he said. ‘He’ll soon learn’.”
Hislop never did learn and few in the education establishment were surprised when he was named as the new chief inspector. “We always said that he’d be chief before long,” said one acquaintance.
He takes the helm at a difficult time. Academic standards in this country are under the spotlight as never before but, like all areas in the public service, the inspectorate is facing the huge challenges of cutbacks and staff shortages.
Hislop is young, at just 48, to have been promoted to such a senior role. He joined the inspectorate in 1998 as a school inspector. A talent for research and seemingly boundless energy saw him promoted to the office of the former chief inspector, Eamon Stack, after just three years.
Hislop was instrumental in opening up the schools evaluation process with the publication of school inspection reports. He liaised with inspectorates in other countries, learning from their experiences and he also played a key role in developing a model of training and evaluation for the inspectorate itself.
“Harold’s a safe pair of hands to continue the work that’s been done,” said an acquaintance. “But he’s not just an implementer. Harold has ideas. He’s a shaper.”
From Cavan originally, Hislop comes from a primary teaching background, having taught in Whitechurch National School in Rathfarnham after graduating from the Church of Ireland College of Education. After just 10 years teaching – during which he gained a PhD from TCD – he was appointed as principal of the school.
In the mid-1990s, Hislop was seconded to the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment where the new primary school curriculum was being developed. “He helped to drive the new curriculum to fruition,” said one observer. “If you look at the history document in the curriculum, Harold’s fingerprints are all over it. His love of the various subjects just bounces off the pages. Insofar as a curriculum document can be exciting, that one is.”
Hislop returned to school but eventually left in 1998 for a stint as general secretary of the Church of Ireland Board of Education. After less than a year in that role, he was offered a position in the inspectorate as a schools inspector.
“He was a great man for ideas if he came into your classroom,” said one teacher of his inspection visits. “You wouldn’t always have the resources or wherewithal to implement the ideas, but you’d just marvel at his energy. He missed absolutely nothing.”
His talents were soon spotted, and Hislop began his work in head office. It was a period of major reform. Stack and his team were clear that reform of the inspectorate was about improving and assuring the quality of education being provided to students.
“Personality-wise, Stack and Hislop were chalk and cheese,” commented one source. “Stack was a social animal. He’d slag the boots off you if he could, just for fun. Harold is quieter and would be careful not to give offence, but the two of them worked well together. They really saw eye-to-eye on what they were trying to do.”
The improvement process was, and continues to be, a collaborative one. “I think winning the confidence of teachers and unions was a major achievement of that team,” said one source. “Think of what has been done: whole-school evaluations; incidental inspections; and the publication of the evaluation reports on the website. These are huge changes but they managed to bring the system along with them.”
Hislop’s rise was relatively rapid and last year he was promoted to deputy chief inspector. “He’s not one to box smart,” said one observer. “It’s just that he works so hard. Harold always seems to be able to give 115 per cent. ’’
As chief inspector, Hislop has his work cut out for him. The inspectorate, like the rest of the public service, has been hit badly by the recruitment ban. Since the moratorium on recruitment was introduced in March of last year, the number of inspectors working has fallen from 154 to 133. There are 20 per cent fewer inspectors working now than there were at the beginning of 2008.
“He’ll deal with it,” said one observer. “I’d say that Harold will be very conscious about costs and delivering value for money in all this.”
One of his next steps will be to encourage schools to get involved in a process of self-evaluation. In some schools this has already started. “I’d say Harold will be very keen to roll that out,” said one source. “He has been part of the team that has been laying down a culture in which schools can honestly assess and appraise their performance without fear of recrimination.”
Internal assessment would greatly complement the external process but it could never replace it in a cost-cutting measure. “If you’re going to improve the quality of schools, you need good self-evaluation and good external evaluation. The external process needs further improvement and a number of schools are already asking questions of themselves,” said an observer.
Questions have been raised about standards in schools, and the amount of information the inspectorate holds about those standards. The inspectorate is unlikely to press for official school league tables. It does not like the idea of pitting school against school and favours a more collaborative approach.
But it does recognise the right of parents to more information about schools. Recent inspectors’ reports – such as those on Gormanston College – have been robust in tone. The inspectorate is not afraid to be critical of schools where this is warranted.
One source says Hislop is involved in a slow process of opening up Irish schools and making them more accountable. It is, he says, a quiet revolution. “He’s the right man for the job,” said one acquaintance. “Like all good educationalists, he has never stopped learning. I think that will stand to him in the challenging times ahead.”
Inspection reports
SINCE FEBRUARY 2006 school inspection reports have been published on the Department of Education website – education.ie.
There are now 3,552 school-inspection reports available on 1,567 schools or centres for education.
Whole-school evaluation reports do not assess the work of individual teachers.
They comment on the school’s management, planning and management of resources; the effectiveness of teaching and learning; its arrangements for student assessment; supports for students; provision for minority groups; and home-school links.
Depending on the size of the school, an inspector or team of inspectors visit the school for a period of time to evaluate management and planning; teaching and learning; and supports for pupils.
