Profile of VET organisation

Name of organization: Gewerbliche Schule

Address: Sudetenstraße 4, 74613 Öhringen

URL: http://www.gsoe.de

 

Country: Germany

Type of VET institute:

No of staff:

No of trainees:

Quality Management Dimension

Quality management of school and teaching by feedback-system

Baseline / problem

The pilot-project „Operativ eigenständige Schule“(„operational independent school“ - OES), which is in progress since 2003/2004, aims the consolidation of pedagogical and professional responsibility in vocational schools. Connected to this measure is the assurance and development of the quality of the school and in class, by implementing a new quality management.

In Baden-Wuerttemberg were 15 vocational schools taking part in the OES-program, one of them was the vocational school of Oehringen, where the teaching quality was developed by a wide-ranging feedback-culture.

Already in 1996 the teachers conference at the vocational school Oehringen worked on the arrangement of a quality management- system for the everyday life at school. In this context the teachers pointed out, that the active involvement of the main target group, their pupils, has to be necessary for a comprehensive, democratic quality management.

Good practice: (Measures, instruments, criteria, indicators)

Measures:

With the measure to identify disadvantages of the existing teaching at the vocational school, as to find out the positive aspects of the pedagogic work for upgrading them, quality management-systems had to be put up. A feedback-culture had to be developed, in which the voice of all participants, the teachers and the pupils can be heard.

Instruments:

Pupils as teachers give feedback about the schooling quality by using a well-developed complex of different evaluation-sheets. Two-way visits to the classes, as well as cooperative groups of teachers for exchange of experiences support the process. In the cooperative groups normally three teachers are working together on exchange of impressions from their visits to the others classes. Beside this a project group “Evaluation” exists, in which both, members of the student council and teachers, are working together on this topic. Based on the central question of successful schooling, different measures had been identified and a questionnaire to evaluate the teachers´ work had been developed.

In the beginning two thirds of the teachers handed these forms out to their classes for anonym assessment. After that, the teachers analyzed the results and presented them to the class, as a basis for further discussions about improvement. The potential of feedback from pupil to teacher is very high, because this point of view is a new turn in the progress of democratic quality development in schools. Methods or instruments, which need to be improved, can be identified and then changed. Good practices can be attested and in some cases transferred.

With the experience of effective quality evaluation, the pupils also wanted to get valuated by their teachers. For that ever single pupil receives an individual feedback of the teacher.

The pupils even initiated a feedback-system for pupils by pupils, which is discussed under the moderation of a teacher.

Criteria/indicators:

For the evaluation of pupils the criteria were collaboration in class and the behavior towards other class-members.

For the teachers different topics can be evaluated in the questionnaires, which include professional skills, like knowledge and content, as well as personal skills.

Furthermore it is also possible to give suggestions for improvement.

The feedback forms for pupils filled in by pupils include parameters like „I welcome my classmates and become welcomed by them”, “for me the class is too loud”, or “teamwork works well in our class”, questions, which show social inclusion and subjective well-being.

The questionnaires, which had been developed until 2004/2005, now stay unmodified for the second stage of the OES, in which the self-evaluation is the central exercise for the partners.

The evaluation takes part biyearly.

Problems and constraints encountered and solutions found:

Not applicable.

Results:

Meantime the vocational school in Oehringen is, after their learning process, in the situation to help other vocational schools with their quality management. On their website they show downloads and share information about their experiences with quality insurance and development, as well as they present their general principle.