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    105 views15 pages

    Chapter 1 The Changing Context of Supervision (Bago)

    Uploaded by

    Verena Raga-Bautista

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF or read online from Scribd
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    of 15
    Chapter One ___ a, The Changing Context of Supervision The changes in the focus or emphasis of supervision may be traced to the different movements or theories of supervisory thought throughout history. ‘There are many parallels in the practice of supervision in business and education. These are evident in supervisory practices in education which are heavily influenced by models in business and industry. In order to justify the use of business models in schools, education is conveniently compared to a production process. Io this extent, education is analogous to what goes on in a factory where the primary objective is maximum productivity. This is the reason why in the early part of the 20th century, the application of businesslike criteria such as economy and efficiency dominated supervisory practices in the school setting in the West (Wiles and Bondi, 1991), Inevitably, as was true in business, the concept of supervision, in education evolved over time, The evolution was largely the result of the changing roles and functions of supervision as the emphasis or focus shifted to its different dimensions, i.c., administration, curriculum, instruction, human relations, evaluation, and leadership. Consequently, variations in definitions emerged 2 | Supervision ofinstucton: The Pipine Pespeeie NNN Supervision in education underwent several phases characterized by a gradual shift from an amateurish, trial-and- error mode toa highly professional and theory-based mode which describes the current practice. Supervisory behavior in schools today makes a deliberate attempt to relate practice to applicable theories and principles on leadership and management (Glanz, 2000). SUPERVISION OF INSTRUCTION IN THE PHILIPPINES ‘The Philippines became a US. colony toward the end of the 19th century. Because of this historical event, the supervision of instruction in the country had been patterned after the Western model from the beginning of the 20th century and onwards. However, prior to the occupation of the Americans, it was the Spaniards, the previous colonizers, who determined supervision of education during the 19th century. By virtue of the Royal Education Decree of 1863, supervision was placed under two councils or juntas: the Junta de Gobierno and the Junta Administradora del Material de Escuelas (Martin, 1980). The first council was composed of the director-general of the civil administration, director of the municipal council, director of the school of arts and trade, president of the economic society of friends of the country, inspector of public works and of mountain and mines, directing engineer, and commissioner of agronomy, with the archbishop of Manila as ipso facto protector of the council On the other hand, the governor-general, sub-director of the civil administration, accountant of civil administration, two priests, and two teachers comprised the second council. Clearly, the majority of those in charge of the supervision of education at that time were not professional educators. They became members of the supervisory council based on arbitrary [RNR THe changing Context of Supervision | 3 considerations that had nothing to do with education. Expectedly, these people exercised their job based on intuition rather than on accepted theories and principles. ‘When the Americans came, the U.S. Army authorities supervised education, To professionalize supervision, although still a meager one, an English teacher was assigned to each school under the supervision of the Army chaplain. The chaplains and the other officers continued to be detailed as schools’ superintendents during the 1930s. The more pronounced and deliberate attempt at professionalizing supervision started when the country was preparing for elf rule which the US. granted in 1946, Thus, in the 1950s the supervisory structure was put in place for each political unit under the leadership of a knowledgeable superintendent with supervisory staff (Martin, 1980). Today, supervisory behavior in the country is a far cry from the hit-and-miss process of the past. Current practices are based on applicable universal concepts, theories, and principles of leadership and management. DEFINITIONS OF SUPERVISION Originally, the term supervision was defined as a process of scanning a text for errors or deviations from the original material (Smyth in Sullivan and Glanz, 2000). It was only later that supervision became associated with direction, control, and oversight of human behavior. The following definitions by various scholars reflect the changing emphasis or focus of supervision on specific dimensions across different periods of time. Emphasis on Administration Supervision is what school personnel do with adults and things to maintain or change the operation of the school in order to directly influence the attainment of major instruction goals (Harris and Bessent, 1969, p. 11). 4 | Supervision of Instruction: The Philippine Perspective’) Emphasis on Curriculum General supervision denotes activities like the writing and revisions of curriculums, the preparation of units and materials of instruction, the development of processes and instruments for reporting to parents, and such broad concerns as evaluation of the total educational program (Cogan, 1973, p. 9) Emphasis on Instruction Supervision of instruction is directed toward both maintaining, and improving the teaching-learning process of the school (Harris, 1975, p. 10). Emphasis on Human Relations Instructional supervisory behavior is assumed to be an additional behavior system formally provided by the organization for the purpose of interacting with the teaching behavior system in such a way as to maintain, change, and improve the provision and actualization of learning opportunities for the students (Wiles and Lovell, 1975, pp. 68). Emphasis on Leaders! Supervision is teaching the teachers how to teach and the professional leadership how to reformulate publiceducation, more specifically, ts curriculum, its teaching, and its forms (Mosher and Purpel, 1972, p. 4). Emphasis on Evaluation Supervisors are regularly involved in evaluation through assessment of programs, processes, and people (Wiles and Bondi, 1991, p. 281). In the 1950s, this emphasis on evaluation in the supervision of Philippine education is described by Fresnoza (1957): ‘Modern supervision evaluates the educational product in the light of the accepted objectives of education. This involves the ‘cooperative determination and critical analysis of the objectives [EN THe Changing Context of Supervision | 5 of education; the selection and application of instruments of evaluation; and the analysis of the resulting data to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the educational product, ‘The shift in focus on the different dimensions of supervision has not been one-way, but rather, swinging back and forth. It must bbe noted that it is only the emphasis that changes from one era to another. During some periods, overlaps in focus occur. What happens is that when one dimension is given greater attention, the other dimensions, although given less importance, still constitute the practice. What the shift in focus implies is that a supervisor with varying levels of expectations and concerns is projected to be an administrator, a curriculum and instructional leader, an evaluator, and a human relations specialist all rolled into one. This comprehensive view of supervisory behavior points to the diversity of dimensions, as well as the multiplicity of roles and expectations that indicate the complexity and difficulty of supervision. The varieties of dimensions, roles, and functions will be discussed in detail in the next chapter. CHANGES IN SUPERVISORY THOUGHT ‘There are at least three movements that significantly impact supervisory thought and practices: Scientific Management ‘Movement, Human Relations Movement, and Instructional Leadership Movement. Each of them is characterized by certain core concepts. The Scientific Management Perspective of Supervision From around 1900 to the 1920s, supervision criteria were based on the Scientific Management Movement, the dominant philosophy that focused on accountability, control, and efficiency. Central to scientific supervision was the emphasis on measurement as the basis for determining teaching effectiveness in relation to student outcomes. © | Superision of ination: he Pha eis aa aia aaa ‘The Scientific Management Theory was based largely on the work of Frederick Taylor, a well-known American engineer,

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