SUPERVISION OF INSTRUCTION

It is an integral part of educational system because of its major function on the three
major components of education which are teaching, learning and supervision.
According to Cheryl F. Fischer through the effective supervision of instruction,
administrators can reinforce and enhance teaching practices that will contribute to improved
student learning. By skillfully analyzing performance and appropriate data, administrators can
provide meaningful feedback and direction to teachers that can have a profound effect on the
learning that occurs in each classroom. Because student learning is the primary function of the
schools, the effective supervision of instruction is one of the most critical functions of the
administrator. If schools are to provide equal access to quality educational programs for all
students, administrators must hold teachers accountable for providing an appropriate and well-
planned program.

FIVE SUPERVISORY MODELS

Clinical Supervision

Clinical supervision of teachers is a term used to describe the process of coaching

inexperienced teachers.

Depending on the school district and university involved, this could take on a variety of
appearances. It might be a seasoned teacher working with a student teacher assigned to them by
the university and their principal. However, it could also take the form of an experienced teacher,
called a mentor, coaching a first-year teacher in their school, referred to as a mentee. The
coaching can involve observations, or any other work the pair do together to improve the
teaching practices of the mentee.

In either case, the model of clinical supervision uses experienced teachers as trusted
colleagues rather than their evaluator. Evaluators are there to determine whether or not a teacher
should remain in the classroom, while the mentor's role is to help the mentee improve their

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teaching. By leaving the experienced teachers out of the student teacher's or new teacher's
evaluation, it gives them an opportunity to bond with colleagues in a trusting relationship. This
bond of mentor to mentee is intended in this model to nurture and coach the new teachers to
success in their classrooms.

Phases of Clinical Supervision

1. Planning Conference
 Goal Setting
 Teacher prepares detailed lesson plan

2. Classroom Observation/Data Collection

 Observation proper
 Collection of data trough instrument

3. Analysis/ Strategy Stage

 Conceptualization

4. Post- observation Conference

 Dialogue
 Establishes goals to meet next observation

5. Post-conference Analysis
 Reflection Exercise for the Instructional Leader

Contextual Supervision
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 Contextual Supervision has been found to achieve three aims: (a) to assist supervisory
personnel (i.e., both the college supervisors and the classroom cooperating teachers) to identify
and to resolve this mismatching problem; and thereby (b) to improve their mentorship
effectiveness; and in turn (c) to better coach preservice teachers to develop their professional
skills and attributes (Ralph,1998; Watt, 1998).

Contextual Supervision is a developmental mentorship model derived from the initial

Situational Leadership (SL) approach (Hersey, 1985; Hersey & Blanchard, 1977), in which the
mentor or supervisor (i.e., any professional who by virtue of his or her previous expertise and
experience fulfills a supervisory or coaching role, that is, the college supervisor or the CCT)
assists a protégé or supervisee (i.e., any less experienced colleague such as the teacher-intern) to
acquire new professional knowledge and skills or to refine existing ones.

The process is contextual because the mentoring relationship is affected by a complex

web of factors unique to each mentoring setting. It matches supervisory styles with teacher’s
readiness level to perform a particular task.

Competence VS Confidence

Teacher Extent of teacher’s Degree of teacher’s

 Knowledge  Self-Assurance
 Skill  Willingness
 Ability  Motivation
 Interest
Support VS Task

Instructional Leader
Amount of encouragement Amount of guidance provided
given to the teacher. in the subject matter.

Conceptual Supervision

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 It encourages familiarization of influences affecting the teaching process. Conceptual
supervision is supported by these organizational theories:
1. Individuals are unified by comment sets of standards.
2. They work together within a system of structure.

The teaching process was affected by the following influences:

1. School Structure (Beach & Reinhartz, 1989) – environment, administrators, colleagues
2. Organizational structure (Edmeirer & Nickluas’s, 1999) – work load, classroom climate,
support of colleagues, decision making, role conflict, supervision
3. Personal Factors (Edmeirer & Nickluas’s, 1999) – life stage, teaching assignment,
interpersonal, intrapersonal, conceptual level, experience in education, knowledge of the
subject.

Developmental Supervision

It focuses on the match of initial supervisory approach with the teacher or group’s
developmental levels, expertise and commitment.

Three types of Assistance

1. Directive
 Instructional leader as the expert.
 Teachers with low conceptual thinking, expertise and commitment.
2. Collaborative
 Both instructional leader and teachers are working as a team.
 Teachers with moderate level of abstract thinking , expertise and commitment.
3. Nondirective
 Allows the teacher to be in control.
 Teachers who think abstractly and demonstrate high expertise and commitment.

Differentiated Supervision
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 Differentiated supervision is particularly teacher driven and it allows instructional leader
to be more of a mentor.

Four Options for Differentiated Supervision

1. Intensive Development
 Works with small number of teachers having difficulty
 Many instructional leader observation
 Focused on learning outcomes instead of teaching method

2. Cooperative Professional Development

 Works with more experienced teachers
 Mutually respectful process
 Work together to facilitate professional growth

3. Self-Directed
 Works with teacher who prefer to work alone
 Independent teaching

4. Administrative Monitoring
 Focuses on what classroom problems must be addressed
 Brief monitoring and unannounced classroom visits

Picture Analysis

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 Whether the government accepts it or not, poor parents, especially in the countryside are
having hard time in embracing the K-12 system.
Parents complain over the extended education cycle when they can barely send their kids
to school, even with the four-year secondary education. Extended school cycle means extended
burdens for fares, baon, projects, and other expenses.
For other parents, they wish their children will graduate sooner rather than later. If not for
two more years in senior high school, students would have made it halfway through college. If
modernizing the education sector could only find a way without having to lengthen it, then both
parents and students, as primary stakeholders, will embrace it without reservations.On the other
hand our government is doing their best in explaining that the extension of the basic education to
12 years seeks to boost the quality of Philippine education to make it at par with that of other
countries. The K-12 program is described to have six salient features: 1) strengthening early
childhood education through universal Kindergarten, 2) making the curriculum relevant to
learners, 3) ensuring integrated and seamless learning, 4) building proficiency through use of
mother tongue based multi-lingual education, 5) provision of career tracks and 6) nurturing
holistically developed Filipino. With that parents are slowly embracing it.

(September 15, 2019; 10:08 PM)

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 Teachers used different strategies to facilitate learning process effectively.

The teacher on the video focused on conditioning or memory stimulation. She simply
creates a stimulus to invoke a response or develop a memory so that when students sits and
listens to a lecture, a memory becomes fixed into their mind. The strategy also further enhances
the memory of the students. The practice made by the teacher engages the entire body of her
students to enhance the learning process.

Using brain-based learning in the classroom is one of the effective ways in conditioning
the mind of the students. It helps students to relax in order to improve alertness because school is
a challenging environment that often produces a stress response that can interfere with learning.
It also stimulates social skills to improve the experience. People retain better understanding of a
concept when they utilize their social skills.

(September 17, 2019; 8:38 PM)

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 Basically, testing is a way to determine the academic achievement and potential of
students. It can be announced or a surprise quiz.

Surprise quiz is the most students fear most. Just like in the given scenario the students
were not informed that they will have an exam that day. The situation become even worst
because they don’t even know what kind of test they will be taking.

As a supervisor, I will first talk to the teacher to ask him what kind of test he will be
giving to the students. I will not disallow him in giving surprise quizzes; I will just ask him not to
inform student by putting poster like that. What he needs to do is let the students enter the room
first and then he explains to them the kind of test they are going to take that is to avoid confusion
among his students.

(September 16, 2019; 10:18 AM)

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 This is an example of DIRECT SUPERVISION because the principal is physically
present and with close contact with the students. By using this strategy he would be able to
respond quickly to the needs of the students because he can oversee them and modeling before
them.

In the given situation the supervisor is present and he oversees the activity by doing that
he can easily provide constant direction, feedback, and assistance.

(September 17, 2019; 8:05 PM)

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 Sleep or nap is a natural function. We all need it! When our body doesn’t have enough
time to rest we may feel tired or we may not able to think clearly. It is also very true to our
students.

“Naps are actually a learning opportunity, “says Dr. Greg Prazar. So when we let our
students to take a sleep in class it will restore their alertness and enhance their performance.
Because after being exhausted with school lessons after napping they will be happier, more alert
and better prepared to learn more and explore in school.

(September 15, 2019; 8:13 PM)

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 What is shown in the video is still part of education, not just academic but basic
responsibility. This is something our country should put into practice. If we are just going to go
back in the past, cleaning the classrooms before leaving in the afternoon is a must and every
student have to do their duties to make the room conducive to learning.

Some parents might be unwilling to accept the idea but If clearly explained to them for
sure they will understand why there is a need to reinforce this kind of system in school. They
should understand the importance of keeping and maintaining a clean and tidy classroom
environment. I will emphasize to parents that a clean environment improve student learning.
Aside from this their children will learn how to be responsible by simply cleaning their own
mess. And I believe that there are more mothers who would love to see their children working
without being told, enjoying their time with their peers while working and developing a sense of
responsibility even at young age.

(September 16, 2019; 3:22 PM)

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 Good manners are as important as academics.

Yes I strongly believed that this set up is possible in our country. That is, if the
implementing authorities will accept the fact that there is need to first establish good manners
and develop character among our students. Unlike in our present educational system wherein as
early as pre-school, students are getting so competitive and bombarded with so much
information, developing pressure and stress among them and to their parents as well.

To be fair, we have many positive traits to be proud of as well. But with so many
negative behaviors seemingly embedded in us over time, I believed that it’s time for us to shape
up. It will not happen overnight, it might take well over a period of time and to start the process
we need a thorough revisit of how we inculcate manners and right conduct in our schools.

(September 15, 2019; 9:36 PM)

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 Classroom discipline is a complex issue and a key concern for teachers’. Discipline is
every teacher’s dilemma in this day and age. Teachers direct a great deal of energy toward
classroom disruption while trying to reach their instructional goal.
Not so long ago teachers have different ways of disciplining children. They will receive
punishment in different forms if they did not follow the rules and regulations set by their
teachers. As a result students are self -motivated and self-disciplined. Teachers then have the
authority to discipline children in place of their parent. This gave teachers a lot of discretion.
Students then remain still and silent on their seats once their teacher enters the classroom.
Teachers would hit students dirty fingers with a stick so as to remind them to cut their nails and
to behave properly in school. Not to forget the "flying notebooks, erasers and chalks", the "face
the wall" and other similar approaches of teachers who were either adored or hated by their
pupils. Yet many criticized corporal punishment for its effectiveness still, many believed that
discipline was an inherent part of a teacher’s job.
But times have changed and the difficulty of adapting to the generational shift in
acceptable disciplinary methods often leads to administrative complaints or even court cases
against teachers for even the very ordinary reasons.

(September 15, 2019; 8:58 PM)

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 “Patience and perseverance have a magical effect before which difficulties disappear and
obstacles vanish.” - John Quincy Adams-

PATIENCE and PERSEVERANCE are the values that I want to inculcate on the mind on
those students who are experiencing hardship in going and coming out to school. If they will be
patient and they will persevere success will come to bound in their life.

As a supervisor I will first have a curriculum mapping of the students for me to know
their real situation and my decision shall be based on the policy of the department. Before
imposing any consideration to them I will make sure that both students and parents know and
understand the rules and policies of the school. Written agreement also is a must with regards to
this matter. Rest assured that I will be very considerate on their situation because eagerness to
learn and pursuing their dreams is very evident on them.

(September 17, 2019; 10:43 PM)

Film Analysis

Formal Supervision

The character of Capt. Vonn Trapp clearly showed how formal observation should be
done. He made sure that his children is abiding on his set rules and regulations. He directs them
on what to do from time to time. Since he is a navy captain he even makes his kids wear

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matching sailor suits and let summons them with a whistle. He is very firm yet he is warm,
understanding and determined.

Informal Supervision

Reverend Mother portrayal is an example of informal supervision. She is very

understanding, strong and authoritative, but kind. She observed Maria by asking the other Sisters
about on their own observation about her. Her kind of observation is outside of the Abbess
organizational hierarchy. She observes Maria any time at her own discretion.

Direct Supervision

The main character Maria, a young, free spirited, warm, gentle and kind with much
determination postulant proved that direct supervision is very vital especially when you are
handling supervisee with diverse needs. It is really significant that you oversee them so that you
can easily respond to issues which will arise. She also showed how a supervisor should behave in
order for her supervisee to follow her. She leads by example. She showed that a supervisor must
not only good in giving orders and directions but also in listening, motivating, encouraging,
negotiating and reflecting. Maria possesses all those qualities. Just like her we must be joyful in
doing our task as a supervisor.

Indirect Supervision

Max Detweiller, the charming and vital; a man of sophistication who enjoys the good
life; true and loyal friend to the von Trapp family displayed a very good example of an informal
supervision. As defined, he characterized some form of authority over the family in terms of
their singing career. He wants to manage them but he did not provide direct supervision over
them.

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What are the essential qualities of a good supervisor? Explain your answer very well.

Good supervisors do not become good by chance. There isn’t a magic formula to become
one. One must not only good in giving orders and directions but also in listening, motivating,
encouraging, negotiating and reflecting.

A good supervisor must be a good listener. Without this quality the supervisor cannot
relay his desires clear and his employyes won’t know how to accomplish the tasks he delegates.
To do so he must interacts effectively with her employees, maintaining open lines of
communication to ensure she stays informed about project progress and any problems that arises.
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 He must also good in motivating his employees while showing them empathy and
compassion. No school will ever give supervisor the perfect work environment and culture to
support their efforts toward fostering teacher motivation. But you can create an environment that
motivates them and increases their level of satisfaction byproviding them with opportunities to
grow their knowledge and skills and encouraging them to speak about what they believe.

As a supervisor he should maintain a positive attitude because teachers look up to you as

their inspiration. Supervisors who come to school with a positive attitude make the school
environment a great place to be. They use this attitude when solving problems, so the issues don't
loom as large as they might. And positive attitudes are contagious. People tend to take on the
attitude of their environment, and being positive is a good one to assume. Make sure to celebrate
wins to acknowledge good work of the teacher.

Possessing a dose of humility is also vital. While a confident and positive outlook is
important, not every decision you make will work out well. When a something fails or a choice
backfires, accept responsibility and learn from the mistake. Don’t blame your teachers for
problems that resulted from your mistakes.

Good supervisor love their work, understand teachers and appreciate the vision and
mission of the department. They can easily convey to their teacher why their profession is great
if they also have passion over their work as a supervisor.

When do you think “Instructions” fail in school? Give prime examples and explain.

The idea of failure instruction may seem pretty absurd but honestly it really happens.

There is a current public perception that either educational outcome for students has been
declining or that the education system is increasingly less able to meet rising community and
employer expectations (Jones, 2012).

In Philippine educational system it is solely a perception by the public that there are
serious problems in the education system’s capacity to meet community expectations. In the past,
some teacher organizations have argued that these issues should be left in the hands of teachers
and that the school performance of students lies not in their hands but depend on the teacher.
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 The very root cause is that we are always adapting our curriculum from other countries
but we cannot provide the basic requirements for it. For example the implementation of K-12
curriculum, yes it is good but our department couldn’t provide the necessary materials for it. In
the modules are activities that need the use of ICT but many schools do not even have a single
computer unit. There is a failure in “Instructions” because of lack of funds to provide all what is
needed for the implementation of new curriculum. They left all this deficiency on the hands of
the teacher and when there is failure they give the blame to teachers also.

As a supervisor, how will you deal with marginal teachers and what approach will you make to
transform the marginal teacher/s to an effective employee? Explain.

According to John Gabriel a marginal teacher is one who has the potential to be effective
but has some flaws that hinder his or her performance and the learning process.

A supervisor must address these deficiencies immediately. The longer the teacher
continues to perform poorly, the greater the negative impact will be on the students. The time
that teachers spend with their students is finite; therefore, all must utilize it wisely. By being
actively involved in the daily operations, the supervisor has the ability to identify marginal
performance and respond proactively.

In the case of marginal teacher I will assist the teacher with designing rules, rewards, and
consequences to encourage appropriate behavior. I will establish management system centered
on fairness and consistency. I will advise marginal teacher to expand his or her knowledge-base
through intensive training or attendance to graduate studies for him to be on path towards
proficiency.

Implementing the following strategies will create improvement opportunities: attending

specific content-based workshops, meeting with effective mentors, reviewing the history of the
discipline, researching into other disciplines, keeping up-to-date with the latest research
developments, and reflecting on the outcomes of previous lessons to improve current and future
lessons.

Why is professional development vital in the Supervision of Instruction? Support your answer.

Professional development refers to many types of educational experiences related to an

individual’s work. Doctors, lawyers, educators, accountants, engineers, and people in a wide
variety of professions and businesses participate in professional development to learn and apply
new knowledge and skills that will improve their performance on the job.

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 Many fields require members to participate in ongoing learning approved by the
profession, sometimes as a requirement for keeping their jobs. Professionals often also
voluntarily seek new learning.

In education, research has shown that teaching quality and school leadership are the most
important factors in raising student achievement. For teachers and school and district leaders to
be as effective as possible, they continually expand their knowledge and skills to implement the
best educational practices. Educators learn to help students learn at the highest levels.

Professional development is the strategy schools and school districts use to ensure that
educators continue to strengthen their practice throughout their career. The most effective
professional development engages teachers to focus on the needs of their students.

Aside from formal process such as a conference, seminar, or workshop; collaborative

learning among members of a work team; or a course at a college or university professional
development can also occur in informal contexts such as discussions among work colleagues,
independent reading and research, observations of a colleague’s work, or other learning from a
peer.

All of these forms of professional development lead not only in gaining additional
knowledge and for promotion but for the improvement of the teaching-learning process. And
who will be the beneficiary ---no other than our STUDENTS.

Educational Management Information System: A Short Case Study of Ghana

Reflection:

The word EMIS itself is self-explanatory and it is term we teachers are very familiar
with. Oftentimes we heard it from our supervisors and we see it in the principal’s office . A
Management Information System or MIS is a central data source capable of not only gathering,
organizing and storing data but also processing and analyzing it and generating various reports
from it.

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 Education Management Information System (EMIS) is specially designed to monitor the
performance of education programs offered by the institute and to manage the distribution and
allocation of educational resources. Of course, in the field of education, EMIS has specific roles
to help an educational institution grow.

So it is very important to have it implemented in every school so as to align academic

processes and deliver better student experience.

As we all know students are at the heart of an educational institution. EMIS stores crucial
student data such as personal data, exam records, and even hostel and library details.
Additionally, it keeps track of the day-to-day progress of students which is eventually used to
analyze and monitor the improvements or retrogression in students over-time.

Same goes for data pertaining to the educators as well. In a developing education
institution, the progress of its educators is equally imperative for them as well as the institution
itself. Educators need to deploy technology to gain in-depth knowledge about student behavior
and make the most out of the time and resources available to provide maximum aid to the
students.

An EMIS helps track faculty data such as attendance, and performance. But, more
importantly, an MIS reduces the workload on teachers by providing quick access to data on any
student or a group of students which can be drilled-down, filtered, and arranged accordingly
within a few clicks and not to look for a certain documents over a loads of papers.

Ease of tracking and analyzing resource distribution and expenditures is one of the
biggest reasons for any top-level management of an educational institution to look forward to
implementing an MIS system. By resources, we mean everything that the management invests
in: right from assets and infrastructure to study aids and educators.

Additionally, the management can fully control which teacher, faculty and staff have
access to what kind of data. For instance, sparing the staff in-charge of finances, the management
can lock the students' financial records from all the other users or alternatively, academic
performance data can be hidden from the staff.

Any type, kind and size of an educational institution require a user-friendly and efficient
EMIS system to take the institution a step further in the right direction and to boost student
success. I am looking forward to have this kind of system in our department one of these days.

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References:

https://study.com/academy/lesson/clinical-supervision-for-teachers.html

https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/ajer/article/view/54828
http://www.stanswartz.com/adminbook/chap3.htm

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