DELEGATES at the ASTI convention have rejected any proposed school inspection scheme that "has as its principal aim the appraisal of teachers."
Numerous speakers expressed fears that a British style system of inspecting individual teachers and publishing the results might be introduced through the Department of Education's proposals for "Whole School Inspection".
Ms Orla Phillips, Tuam, said the Education Bill had expressly directed inspectors to evaluate "the quality of teaching and the effectiveness of individual teachers." If the Bill was passed, "an inspector will have every right to sit in at the bottom of our classrooms and evaluate us, while our pupils knowingly look on."
She asked if any other professional group required to practise their craft while "sooner who may not even be a current practitioner.
Mr Tomas O Murchu from Kilkenny, warned that "any time the type of inspectorate is let loose the only thing that happens is a culture of fear.
The delegates passed a composite motion urging the ASTI to maintain its policy of advising, members they are not required to teach in the presence of an inspector to produce guidelines on the role of inspectors as advisory to and supportive of teachers and to oppose any attempt to publicise the assessment of individual teachers or school exam results.
Last month the ASTI circulated a consultation paper formulating a number of principles in response to the "Whole School Inspection" proposals. It warns against presenting school exam results "in a grossly distorted form by league tables of results which present a grotesque caricature of school performance."