Fabian DietrichMaike Lambrecht

People Work with People

School Inspection and the Hope of the Unforced Force of “Better Evidence”

Shortlink: https://www.waxmann.com/artikelART100407

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Abstract

The concept of evidence-based steering expresses once more the hope of an intentional structuring of the school system. Decentralised steering via empirical evidence promises “school development through reason” and thereby a rationalisation of the process of steering. Inspectors and actors at school shall meet each other “at eye level”, and school development shall be promoted by a rational dispute of the “objective facts”. However, the question is which logical structure this conception follows. With school inspection as example, it is demonstrated that the notion of evidence is formulated very differently at the level of steering objectives. From a reconstructive perspective it becomes apparent that evidence-based steering crucially depends on the extent to which evidence, generated via school inspection, can be made credible. Consequently, not the generation of evidence but rather the conveyance of evidence is the central structural problem of the practice of school inspection.

Keywords
evidence, steering, school inspection, reconstruction

APA citation
Dietrich, F. & Lambrecht M. (2012). Menschen arbeiten mit Menschen: Schulinspektion und die Hoffnung auf den zwanglosen Zwang der „besseren Evidenz“. DDS – Die Deutsche Schule, 104(1), 57-70. https://www.waxmann.com/artikelART100407