Supervision and Inspection in Education
ASSIGNMENT 1: Supervision and inspection in an educational institution
Introduction
Central governments and their service ministries of education hold the responsibility for underpinning the development of education with quantitative, independent advice on the state of the system. The twin responsibilities of quality control and quality improvement are undertaken by through supervision and inspection. These give rise to the need for supervision and an element of inspection in the schools.
This essay will define the terms supervision and inspection in the context of educational institutions, and then will proceed to describe the historical perspective of supervision. Although supervision is now the leading method through which efficiency in educational institutions is now approached, it is inspection that precede it in the early days of formal educational institutions, and the focus was on ensuring personnel towed the line and were compliant.
The different bases of authority and power will then be discussed, noting that these affect the relationship between a supervisor and supervisee. Those types of power and authority that are most desirable are those that rely less on coercion and more on respect and professional expertise.
The models of supervision are then discussed, noting some strengths and weaknesses of each. It is concluded that those models that uphold the supervisor as the supreme and only source of knowledge are now outdated, and are being replaced by more relevant and applicable ones that acknowledge and take note of the supervisee as a unique individual whose idiosyncrasies need to be taken into account by the supervisor. Inspection, as a form of data collection, can still be used in some models, but only in so far as it is a means to the end of supervising, and therefore improving the teaching-learning process.
Definition of Concepts
What is Supervision?
Oliva and Pawlas (2004) argue that it is extremely difficult to come up with a
Introduction
Central governments and their service ministries of education hold the responsibility for underpinning the development of education with quantitative, independent advice on the state of the system. The twin responsibilities of quality control and quality improvement are undertaken by through supervision and inspection. These give rise to the need for supervision and an element of inspection in the schools.
This essay will define the terms supervision and inspection in the context of educational institutions, and then will proceed to describe the historical perspective of supervision. Although supervision is now the leading method through which efficiency in educational institutions is now approached, it is inspection that precede it in the early days of formal educational institutions, and the focus was on ensuring personnel towed the line and were compliant.
The different bases of authority and power will then be discussed, noting that these affect the relationship between a supervisor and supervisee. Those types of power and authority that are most desirable are those that rely less on coercion and more on respect and professional expertise.
The models of supervision are then discussed, noting some strengths and weaknesses of each. It is concluded that those models that uphold the supervisor as the supreme and only source of knowledge are now outdated, and are being replaced by more relevant and applicable ones that acknowledge and take note of the supervisee as a unique individual whose idiosyncrasies need to be taken into account by the supervisor. Inspection, as a form of data collection, can still be used in some models, but only in so far as it is a means to the end of supervising, and therefore improving the teaching-learning process.
Definition of Concepts
What is Supervision?
Oliva and Pawlas (2004) argue that it is extremely difficult to come up with a
References: Glickman C. D. (1990) Supervision of Instruction: A Developmental Approach Allyn and Bacon Madzivire N.C. Supervision of Educational Personnel ZOU Module DEA502 Oliva P.F. and Pawlas G.E. (2004) Supervision for Today’s Schools Wiley, Danvers Sergiovanni T. J. and Starratt R. J.(1998) Supervision: A Redefinition, McGraw-Hill Sullivan S. and Glanz J. (2009) Supervision that Improves Teaching and Learning: Strategies and Techniques Sage, United States of America