School inspection and its influence in the quality development of inclusive education practices in Uganda

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to explore How school inspection may influence the quality development of inclusive education practices in Uganda. The study employed the Human Relations and the Scientific Management Theories that helped clarify definitions and the role of school inspection in education sector. Qualitative approach was chosen for the study with reference to the qualitative research design. The data were collected by the means of semi structured interviews; participant observation and document analysis which targeted school inspectors and teachers and head teachers. The respondents were chosen purposively and the study had six participants. Thematic data analysis was used to establish findings, following the data analysis procedures of Miles & Huberman (1984); Braun & Clarke (2006). Three themes emerged and these included; Theme one how school inspection may attempt to enhance inclusion, theme two; strategies used by inspectors to try to influence the quality of inclusive education and theme three challenges school inspectors, teachers and head teachers face during inspection. The findings of this study highlight notable issues; that school inspection plays a very pertinent role in influencing the quality of Education. During the discussion, findings were basically used drawing relevant examples from the Literature review. More examples were cited from the Human Relations Theory and Scientific Management Theory and directly linked to the findings. It was seen that the study had some strengths and weaknesses and there was no cause for regret because education is an issue requiring innovations that uncertainties can be welcome. Finally recommendations were drawn thus professional awareness, role of leadership, renewed vision and more research to be instituted in the field of school inspection. The conclusion was made and the general analysis suggested that the study was conducted on a small scale due to the nature of the research design adopted and the few number of informants used during data collection, therefore it cannot be generalized to the entire country but it was noted that school inspection plays an important role in influencing and improving the quality of education particularly in Kumi district where the study was conducted. It was also noted that though the field of school inspection had achieved much, there is still much to be desired from school inspection due to the challenges that stakeholders face in the bid to improve education.