Inspection with a Difference Available to Purchase

There are strong affinities and similarities between Her Majesty's Inspectors and the inspectors of schools employed by the Australian States, but there is one important difference between them. The Australian inspector spends much of his time assessing teachers and making recommendations for their promotion and appointment, while the H.M.I. is more of a professional consultant to central and local authorities and to schools, and he has little influence on the progression of individual teachers. Australian inspectors appear to have had longer teaching experience than H.M.I.‘s and they certainly carry out a wider range of duties. They seem to be more concerned with in‐service training, curriculum construction and research than are their British colleagues. H.M.I.'s, however, appear to be more scholarly and they are more resolute in pressing professional criticisms than are the Australians. Nearly one‐third of H.M.I.'s are women. In Australian school systems there is a marked and unfortunate paucity of women inspectors.