An Analysis of Teachers’ Perception of the Supervisory Behaviour of School Inspectors
CHAPTER ONE
Objective of the Study
The purpose of this study was to investigate the perception of teachers about instructional supervision in the Uhunwonde Local Government Area of Edo State.
CHAPTER TWO
LITERATURE REVIEW
The Concept of Supervision
The concept supervision has been defined in different ways by various scholars and academicians. Instructional supervision is mainly about improving schools by helping teachers focus on their activities, learn more about what they are doing and why, and develop professionally [16].
Supervision of instruction is a process of assisting the teacher to improve himself and his instructional abilities so as to enhance effective teaching and learning [17, 18], defined school supervision as all efforts of designated school officials directed towards providing leadership to the teachers and other educational workers in the improvement of instructional activities, method of teaching and evaluation of instructions. It can be deduced that supervision is giving direction, guidance and control of work force with the view to see that they are working according to plan and keeping time schedule.
The study [19] believes that supervision would enhance the professional development of teachers as well as instruction whereas the study [13] perceive supervision as a fault-finding agenda by supervisors. According to the study [16], when a school’s instructional capacity improves, teaching improves leading to improvement in students’ learning outcome.
In a study of supervisory behaviour and teacher satisfaction Glatthorn (2007) found that the improvement of the teacher-learning process was dependent upon teacher attitudes towards supervision. According to Glatthorn (2001), unless teachers view supervision as a process of promoting professional growth and student learning the supervisory exercise would not have the desired effect. Glatthorn’s study came up with several findings about teachers’ preferences regarding supervisory activities. Many teachers indicated that they preferred to be supervised by people with more than fifteen years of teaching experience. Most teachers also preferred immediate discussions with their supervisors about the lessons observed. They also expected the supervisor to be caring, understanding and helpful. The relationship between the teacher and the supervisor was expected to be collegial rather than authoritarian. Teachers usually associated instructional supervision with the rating of teachers (Kapfunde). According to Kapfunde (1990) supervision is used to measure the performance of teachers.
According to Cogan (1973) it is important to create conditions that will make the teacher comfortable during the supervision process. For example, where the supervisor and the supervisee have cordial relations, there are high chances of the teacher feeling comfortable during the supervision process. It is also argued that where teachers are aware of the roles of supervision for their professional development, they are likely to view the classroom observations positively; but where the teachers’ views on supervision are negative, it is most likely that teachers may view observations as the perfect platforms for the supervisor to attack them (Reepen and Barr, 2010).
CHAPTER THREE
METHODOLOGY
The issues considered in this section include study design, the population, sample as well as the sampling procedure, the research instruments, data collection and analysis procedures.
Study Design
The study used the descriptive survey design. This is because of the large size of the population which makes a direct observation a difficult task. In the words of the study [48], descriptive research aims to describe a population, situation, or phenomenon accurately and systematically. The study involved the perception of teachers towards instructional supervision. It is to explore the perception of people on supervision. This can be measured directly through eliciting expressions of what people say [49]
CHAPTER FOUR
RESULT
Frequencies and the percentages for the statistical analysis of Research Question 1: How do teachers perceive results. The frequencies and percentages were used to supervision? describe the data and to answer the research questions after.
The first item was “supervision improves teachers’ behaviour, achievement and attitude”. Thirty-six percent (36%) of the respondents strongly agreed and 62% agreed with the statement. Aggregated percent of respondents who either strongly disagreed or disagreed was 2%. It is evident from the finding that a majority of respondents (98.0%) agreed with the view of the study [36] who believe that supervision plays a crucial role in improving teachers in the Sphere of behaviour, achievement and attitude.
CHAPTER FIVE
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION
CONCLUSION
The results of the study suggest that majority of teachers see supervision as an efficient way of enhancing their own professional development while few others see it as an interference in their work and also as an agenda by supervisors to expose their weaknesses and settle personal scores.
An analysis of the findings of the study reveals that supervisors are perceived as individuals who exhibit both positive and negative traits.
Recommendations
Based on the results and analysis of the study, it is recommended that:
- Supervisors should not use supervision as fault finding rather than fact finding.
- Teachers should see supervisors as critical friends or partners who complement their roles.
- In-service training sessions should be organized for supervisors and teachers on supervisor-teacher relationship to remove suspicion that characterize the practice
- It is also important that supervisors should use supervision for professional reason and not to victimize teachers or to settle old grudges that have nothing to do with the education of the learner.
- There should be a national policy on school supervision that should be made clear, transparent and understandable to teachers, supervisors and other stakeholders in education
References
- Musaazi, J. C. S. (1985). The Theory and Practice of Educational Administration. London: Macmillan Publishers Ltd.
- Sergiovanni, T. T., & Starratt, R. J. (2002). Supervision: A Redefinition (7th). Boston, M. A.: McGraw-Hill.
- Tesfaw, T. A. and Hofman, R. H. (2014). Relationship between instructional supervision and professional development [Online] retrieved on 29 April 2020 from http://iejcomparative.org.
- Zachariah, W. O. (2013). Skills and Attributes of Instructional Supervisors: Experience from Kenya. Academic Journals Vol. 8 (24), pp. 2270–2280, 23 December, 2013 Dol:10.5897/ERR12.0571SSN1990–3839©2013http://www.academicjournals.org/ERR.
- Servet, C. (2011). Characteristics and Competencies for Teacher Educators: Addressing the Need for Improved Professional Standards in Turkey Australian Journal of Teacher Education.
- Sullivan, S. and Glanz, J. (2000). Supervision Improves Teaching: Strategies and Techniques. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press Inc.
- Acheson, K. A.(1987). Techniques in the Clinical Supervision of Teachers: Perspectives and Applications. New York: Allyn and Bacon.
