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“A Fever of Anxiety and Fear”? Historical Perspectives on School Inspections and Teachers’ Well-Being in England and Wales: 1839–2024

Russell Grigg

History of Education, Pages: 1 - 21

Swansea University Author: Russell Grigg

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Abstract

This article addresses the lack of historical perspectives in recent discussions about the impact of school inspections on teachers’ well-being. Viewed through the lens of emotional history, it explores the significance of school inspectors’ styles and personalities in shaping teachers’ emotional ex...

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Published in: History of Education
ISSN: 0046-760X 1464-5130
Published: Informa UK Limited 2025
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URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa69803
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title “A Fever of Anxiety and Fear”? Historical Perspectives on School Inspections and Teachers’ Well-Being in England and Wales: 1839–2024
spellingShingle “A Fever of Anxiety and Fear”? Historical Perspectives on School Inspections and Teachers’ Well-Being in England and Wales: 1839–2024
Russell Grigg
title_short “A Fever of Anxiety and Fear”? Historical Perspectives on School Inspections and Teachers’ Well-Being in England and Wales: 1839–2024
title_full “A Fever of Anxiety and Fear”? Historical Perspectives on School Inspections and Teachers’ Well-Being in England and Wales: 1839–2024
title_fullStr “A Fever of Anxiety and Fear”? Historical Perspectives on School Inspections and Teachers’ Well-Being in England and Wales: 1839–2024
title_full_unstemmed “A Fever of Anxiety and Fear”? Historical Perspectives on School Inspections and Teachers’ Well-Being in England and Wales: 1839–2024
title_sort “A Fever of Anxiety and Fear”? Historical Perspectives on School Inspections and Teachers’ Well-Being in England and Wales: 1839–2024
author_id_str_mv 9701d32adc7c12ae98010199dd338146
author_id_fullname_str_mv 9701d32adc7c12ae98010199dd338146_***_Russell Grigg
author Russell Grigg
author2 Russell Grigg
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description This article addresses the lack of historical perspectives in recent discussions about the impact of school inspections on teachers’ well-being. Viewed through the lens of emotional history, it explores the significance of school inspectors’ styles and personalities in shaping teachers’ emotional experiences of inspection. Based on wide-ranging sources, the findings show that teachers have experienced inspection-related anxiety and fear over a very long period. But they have also enjoyed moments of mutual respect, pride and satisfaction. The paper illustrates how inspectors’ roles, styles and personalities interacted and were key to either promoting or undermining teachers’ emotional well-being. It also highlights insights from the past to inform current debates about school inspections. The research breaks new ground in offering a long-term perspective and has relevance to those interested in the intersection of inspection practices, teacher well-being, and educational accountability.
published_date 2025-07-30T14:16:51Z
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