Supervisors understanding and practice of their instructional leadership roles and their knowledge and use of clinical supervision in supervising teachers

Abstract

The study was designed to find out how basic school supervisors understand and practice their roles as instructional leaders and their knowledge and use of clinical supervision in supervising teachers. The design was a descriptive survey and data was collected using quantitative and qualitative methods. The sample comprised126 participants and 111 of them comprising 83 teachers, 22 headteachers and 5 circuit supervisors and 1 head of inspectorate returned their questionnaires. A five-point likert scale with 38 questionnaire items was used to collect quantitative data while a semi-structured interview was used to collect qualitative data. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used as the statistical tools for analyzing quantitative data while a content analysis was used for the qualitative data.Findings indicate that most basic school supervisors who participated in the study understand and practice their roles as instructional leaders. On clinical supervision the study revealed that although basic school supervisors surveyed had knowledge about clinical supervision they were unable to use it properly in supervising teachers. The study further revealed that majority of teachers received support from their supervisors. Additionally supervisors and teachers had open and trusted professional relationships. Based on the findings and discussions the study recommended among other things that basic school supervisors must be trained in contemporary supervisory practices such as instructional leadership and clinical supervision so that they can improve supervision in basic schools. Heads of basic schools must also be fully detached to make them more effective while the size of circuits should also be reduced so that circuit supervisors can effectively monitor instructional delivery and support individual teachers. The study also suggests the need to conduct further research to find out the challenges facing basic school supervisors in the use of clinical supervision.