Exploring the competencies of basic school supervisors in mathematics, the case of Kwahu East District of the Eastern Region

Abstract

The study sought to explore and examine the competence basic school mathematics supervisors possess in ensuring effective mathematics education delivery in the Ghanaian basic schools. A cross sectional descriptive survey research design was undertaken with an adopted conceptual framework from Niss and Jensen (2002). The conceptual framework enumerates the kinds of competence expected of a mathematics student, teacher or supervisors. The sample for the study comprised mathematics teachers and supervisors (n = 185) in the Kwahu East District. Multistage sampling techniques which included convenient, purposive and simple random sampling techniques were employed to sample the participants. The instruments used to gather data for the study were self-structured questionnaires. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent sampled t-test. The findings revealed that the mathematics teachers viewed most of their instructional supervisors as not competent enough to guide them to achieve the mathematics curriculum goal. The supervisors, on the other hand were of the view that they were very competent on all the parameters used in this study. The hypothesis tested on the difference of the claims of both mathematics teachers and supervisors indicated a significant difference. It also emerged from the study that most supervisors in the district employ the democratic style of supervision. Again, it was evident that a number of challenges were militating against the effective delivery of instructional supervision. Among others, the study concluded that to some extent the supervisors were averagely competent but needed more help to improve their performance. It was concluded again that the supervisors employ modern recommended styles of supervision in the face of many challenges. Therefore, the study recommended among others that training institutions should organize regular workshops, pre-service and in service training programs for supervisors on desired competencies of modern-day instructional supervisor. Furthermore, it is recommended that Ghana Education Service should provide training for supervisors on modern day supervision styles as part of their induction process after their appointments. Finally, stakeholders of education must put their ‘shoulders to the wheel’ to ensure that they provide the necessary support to the basic schools supervisors to ensure effectiveness.