PERCEIVED INFLUENCE OF SUPERVISION OF INSTRUCTION ON TEACHERS’ CLASSROOM PERFORMANCE IN JOS-NORTH EDUCATION ZONE OF PLATEAU STATE
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CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
Background of the study
Instructional supervision is a constant process that aims at improving teaching by providing needed services to teachers. Improving teaching is a complex process in which many elements should interact. Teachers are at the center of this improvement process. Their acceptance of instructional supervision and interaction with instructional supervisors provide the catalyst for any supervisory success. The way teachers view the supervision that they are undergoing and think about it is very important in the outcomes of the supervision process.
Supervision has its origin from the Latin word “Super video” meaning “to oversee” (Adenaike and Adebanjo, 2000:151). Therefore, “Supervision can be seen as a way of advising, guiding, refreshing, encouraging, stimulating, improving and overseeing certain groups with the hope of persuading people to desist from applying wrong procedures in carrying out certain functions on their jobs and at the same time try to emphasize the importance of good human relations in an organization” (Akilaiya, 2001:251). Supervision as a concept has diverse meanings and definitions on the individual’s needs, purposes and experience. Whereas the school supervisor would perceive it as an indispensable force for improved productivity, the teacher and or the taught being supervised might view same as an attempt to harass, threaten and curse because of the use of traditional approach of supervision by supervisors, or as a source of assistance and support needed in realizing the educational goals and objectives. The traditional approach of supervision is a fault-finding approach, the supervisor goes to school to criticize and condemn teachers, not seeing anything good in them (Adenokun, 2000). Educational supervision is the process or act of seeing to it that the policies, principles and methods established for achieving the objectives of education are properly and successfully carried out (Akilaiya, 2001). This process involves using expert knowledge and experience to oversee, evaluate and cooperatively improve the conditions and methods of doing things connected with the teaching-learning problems in schools.
The need to supervise the instructional process cannot be over emphasized; hence Ezeocha (1985) is of the view that most of the schools activities and all the school programmes require supervision. Supervision of instruction is a process of assisting the teachers to improve himself and his instructional abilities so as to enhance effective teaching and learning (Afianmagbon, 2007). It is a service rendered to teachers which is directed towards controlling the quality of their classroom instruction. Supervision of instruction aims at identifying areas of work that need to be improved upon. Oraemesi (1997:195) is of the opinion that supervision of instruction is important for a number of reasons. To him; “the supervisee learns during supervision, since the supervisor is more knowledgeable, he corrects and advises the supervisee. This is done through friendly interaction. It also enhances personal professional growth of the teacher since interaction and greater knowledge gained at supervision promote personal growth”.
Education has been known to be the antidote to poverty and ignorance and the key for unlocking natural resources (Obaji, 2006). Since education is accepted to be an instrument of change; teachers serve as the main operators of the instrument while the students are referred to as the raw materials to be processed on which the change would be manifested over a period of time (Adenaike and Adebanjo, 2000). In an attempt to ensure that the value of education is being derived at all levels, some officials are charged with the responsibility to monitor the performances of all those who run education especially those in schools in order to find out or assess the extent of achievement of the goals of education. These officials are the ones officially designated as supervisors.
Consequently, due to high cost of education, stakeholders are becoming increasingly interested in the school system. They monitor the teachers and their wards’ activities critically to ensure that adequate teaching and learning activities take place. Thus Parents Teachers Association monitors the activities within the school and constitutes part of the team involved directly in supervision. In the process of teaching and learning, some variables sometimes interfere with the plans and patterns of operation within the school that can be harmful to the attainment of set goals. Such variables include: teacher’s personality, his attitude to work, motivation, discipline, student’s background and environment which will have either positive or negative influence on the school system and education at large. The school is an organization where the generality of the citizens have input and support. As a result, the whole society and designated supervisors are in the position to help improve the system generally (Ijaduola, 2000).
The process of supervision is complex and it permeates the whole structure of the school system. There seems to be little or no area of operation within the school where the need for supervision would not arise, although this may be in diverse proportions. As Ajibade (1993) opined, the crucial areas within the school system that require supervision are instructional and discipline areas where both the content, method or mode of delivery, and the personality of both the students and the teachers are examined to ensure their adequacy for the school system.
The positive perception of teachers towards the influence of supervision of instruction will bring about the actualization of the objectives of supervision of instruction and a negative perception will stampede it. The rational for this study is to see the perception of teachers on the influence of supervision of instruction towards the realization of the objectives and goals of supervision which is to improve classroom instruction. This study will be concerned with the perception of teachers on the influence of supervision of instruction as it affects interaction between supervisor and teachers, availability of teaching materials as suggested by instructional supervisors, and conferences and seminars organized by instructional supervisors.
Statement of the problem
In the attempt to improve the quality of education, more focus should be put on teachers. This focus is based on the assumption that understanding the perception of teachers on the influence of supervision of instruction on their performances will increase our knowledge about how to go about instructional supervision (Wu and Short, 1996).
In Jos-North Education zone of Plateau State, there are designated instructional supervisors charged with the responsibility to supervise instructions. The supervisors supply teaching materials to schools for teachers to work with in order to improve classroom instructions. The supervisors are always ready to assist the teachers and the interaction is quite cordial. Also, workshops, conferences and seminars are organized more often both within the education zone and at the state level to help find solutions to teachers’ unanswered questions.
The problem investigated in this study was whether the perception of teachers as regards the influence of supervision of instruction on their class performance is negative or positive and the extent of their perception, since these will determine the impact and success of instructional supervision of schools in Jos-North Education zone. It focused on three aspects of instructional supervision. These are: interaction between teachers and supervisors, availability of teaching materials as directed by instructional supervisors and attendance to conferences and seminars organized by instructional supervisors.
Purpose of the study
The main purpose of this study was to determine the perceived influence of supervision of instruction on teachers’ classroom performance.
Specifically, this study investigated the extent to which:
1. Teachers perceive the influence of interaction with instructional supervisors on their classroom performance.
2. Teachers perceive the influence of use of instructional materials as suggested by instructional supervisors on their classroom performance.
3. Teachers perceive the influence of conferences and seminars organized by instructional supervisors on their classroom performance.
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