Successful School Staffing Strategies by Pregot Michael;

Author:Pregot, Michael;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Incorporated

Chapter 6

Principles of School Staff Supervision

In this chapter, an examination of desirable supervisory practices related to school staff is presented. The general topic is approached from four major perspectives: the individual need for supervision, the group need for supervision, the process to use in supervision, and implementing supervisory principles to improve a school. In defining supervision as the general oversight of a school, there is an implication that a structured system of rules must be put into place. If we view supervision as a constant conversation among colleagues to improve pedagogical practice, our definition would emerge as a joint conversation on solid educational practice as compared to implementing rigid regulations.

Nine different aspects that underpin the process of staff supervision are studied:

1. The General Nature of School Supervision

2. Understanding Supervision from the Individual Educator Perspective

3. Cycle of Supervisory Input

4. Planning for the Supervisory Process

5. Implementing a Supervisory Process

6. Teachers as School Leaders

7. Noninstructional Supervisory Considerations

8. Use of Action Research Projects by Staff

9. Supervising the Noninstructional Staff

The General Nature of School Supervision

The term school supervision is a fairly nondescript term conjuring up different images to educators based on their previous career experiences. For some, it might denote strictly defined rules to obey while others might think of a process that builds relationships. For the purposes of our discussion, a definition of a developmental approach toward school supervision is cited. “Supervision is the glue of a successful school. It is the function in schools that draws together the discrete elements of instructional effectiveness into whole school action” (Glickman, Gordon, & Ross-Gordon, 2012, p. 8).

There are multiple layers of a school supervision plan. In mundane life a teacher might be required to enter the main office in the morning, sign an attendance sheet, and check her/his mailbox to officially start the school day. In a more informal school culture, a teacher can decide his/her own protocols on issues such as the scope of curricular content and delivery of instruction within a broader context.

In another informal example of setting school tone, teachers might typically congregate in a faculty lounge during free periods to discuss how their peers are handling topical school-wide concerns. Since there are various ways to define supervision, the major focus for school supervision in this chapter will be associated as much as possible with the role of improving the student-learning process.

Using a definition of improved learning, the school leader must go beyond developing a simple checklist of safe and nurturing environmental factors and enter into a formal study of pedagogy. In an asset-based system, a school supervisor helps staff to understand learning theories, identifies points of suitable instructional emphasis, assesses desirable achievement levels to be reached by students, and formulates academic remedial plans.

Table 6.1 Important Principles of School Supervision

General Principles

Operational Definition

Implementation

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.