Exploring and explaining the effects of being inspected

This study looks into the effects of school inspection in the context of Flemish education. Respondents in five primary case schools were interviewed before inspection, immediately after inspection and four months later (totalling 45 interviews with 15 respondents). Our results indicate that the inspection incites reflection amongst school staff on the quality of their education before the inspection takes place, but the inspection itself does not provide substantial new insights in the schools’ strengths or weaknesses. The inspection judgement strongly affects the response of school towards the inspection. The case schools with a positive inspection report take practically no concrete action for improvement in the four months after inspection, while a more active response is seen in a school with a less favourable inspection report. The article also discusses the impact of some of the particularities of the Flemish education context on the effects of inspection.