Abstract

School inspectors carry out their work under conflicting role expectations of their stakeholders. On the one hand, inspectors are expected to be as scientific as possible by adhering to a techno-rational approach of school inspection that enables comparisons between schools. This approach is in line with the current demands for evidence-informed policy and practice. On the other hand, actors of local schools want their uniqueness to be recognised. To satisfy both demands some inspectors search for ways to account for a school’s uniqueness while maintaining comparability.

Overall, school inspectors have to project an image of competence to their stakeholders and last but not least to each other. Therefore, the presentation will close with remarks on how inspectors present themselves as ‘good inspectors’.