SCHOOL SUPERVISION AS A QUALITY CONTROL MEASURE FOR SECONDARY EDUCATIONAL DISTRICT
ABSTRACT
The study looked into school supervision as a quality control measure for secondary education in the state of Lagos. The study specifically seeks to determine the extent to which school supervision will improve teachers’ productivity in secondary school, as well as whether school supervision will have a significant impact on secondary school students’ academic performance.
Four research questions and three hypotheses were developed to guide the review of related literature. In the study, a descriptive research design was used. A researcher-created survey questionnaire was used to collect teachers’ responses to school supervision as a quality control measure in the classroom. Findings were obtained using appropriate research methodology, which included the use of percentage, frequency, and chi-square (X2).
The findings revealed that there is a significant relationship between school supervision and teacher productivity in secondary school.
Furthermore, there is a significant relationship between school supervision and secondary school students’ academic performance; there is a significant relationship between school supervision and secondary school teaching and learning; and there is a significant relationship between school supervision and secondary school quality control measures.
Based on the findings, the study recommended that the Ministry of Education monitor school supervision and ensure that it has a positive impact as a quality control measure for secondary schools in Lagos, Nigeria. Furthermore, professional supervisors should be recommended for supervisory practices, and supervisors should stay up to date on current events in educational supervision.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Study’s Background
The changes in the Nigerian educational sector necessitate that school principals play a larger and more important role in educational supervision. According to Mohd Salleh Lebar (2000), educational supervision is not a new phenomenon in Nigeria, but has been in use since the British colonial days. Back then, schools were overseen by a Visiting Teacher and a School Inspectorate. Interactions between the inspectorate and teachers had already existed at the time. The relationship was democratic and friendly.
In fact, the concept of supervision varies in Nigeria’s educational administrative system. The supervision was carried out by teaching colleges and university lecturers in order to evaluate their trainee teachers’ practical teaching. Furthermore, the school inspectorate oversaw the assessment of teaching activities, organizational functions, resource allocation, and overall school management (Yunus, 2012).
As a result, the inspectorate provided the principal with advice and recommendations for improvement. At the school level, supervision was typically performed by the principal, the headmaster, or a senior teacher delegated with authority.
During supervision, the principal may notice some malfunctions or problems that have arisen in the school system. In general, supervisors’ responsibilities include guiding, improving teaching performance, acting as facilitators, and boosting teachers’ morale.
The supervisory role of the principal is a critical issue in educational leadership. It entailed many aspects of leadership, such as identifying, supervising, teacher skills, student performance, the effectiveness of school types, and technical skills.
As a result, a school administrator’s or principal’s role is to supervise, plan, and develop competitive strategies for the school. As a result, a principal duty is extremely difficult, and one must be able to distinguish between administrative duties and management tasks.
The Ministry of Education’s National Policy on Education (2004) outlined how the primary role of educational leadership must be effective. Principals must be efficient and spend the majority of their time organizing learning activities in their schools.
One of their important responsibilities is to maintain effective school supervision by acting as consultants, advisors, and coordinators for teaching and learning activities in schools. They should devote more time to professional activities of teachers and students, rather than simply working in their offices issuing memos, directives, and circulars.
Yunus (2012) discovered that educational supervision is a dynamic process in education aimed at improving the quality of teaching and learning. One of the roles that principals must play is to provide the best educational leadership possible.
According to a circular letter issued by the Ministry of Education in 2004, principals must conduct teaching supervision in their respective schools. The task may be delegated to senior assistants, afternoon supervisors, and department heads in addition to principals.
According to Yunus (2004), the responsibility of school administrators as educational supervisors includes three important aspects: curriculum implementation, the preparation of teaching materials, and the improvement of teachers’ professionalism in their respective schools. School principals must pay special attention to teachers’ teaching tasks in order to improve educational quality.
Principal Supervisory roles in schools, particularly on teaching and non-teaching staff services, are a major concern because they play a significant role in the quality of education provided to students (Grauwe and Carron, 2004). Supervisors are tasked with establishing rules and policies, as well as staffing, training and development, and employee performance.
As a result, supervisors should be well aware not only of the group’s goals in relation to the organization’s goals, but also of the team’s tasks and activities. Pierce and Rowell (2005) identified ten key supervisory tasks that are related to productivity.
These are: supporting team growth, inspiring unity, praise and commendation, setting a high bar for excellence, requiring accountability, verifying potential, instilling independence, continuous sharing and communication, optimizing ownership, and reinforcing relationships.
These tasks are applicable in all settings and types of organizations, ranging from business to non-profit and educational institutions. Similarly, Grauwe and Carron (2004) identified three factors that influence the effectiveness of supervision on the productivity of workers. These are the roles and functions, the organizational structure, and the workload of the employees.
According to Peretomode (2005), the school, like any other organization, has problems. The process by which the school’s functions are performed can identify the variety of problems that it presents. Instructional supervision is one of the processes used by school administration to achieve acceptable performance and results. It is a quality control tool in the school system.
According to Nwankwo (2004), supervision can be classified. These are instructional and personnel supervision, respectively. Instructional supervision has been defined as a set of activities carried out with the goal of improving the learner’s teaching and learning experience.
Personnel supervision, on the other hand, refers to a set of activities carried out by the supervisor with the primary goal of sensitizing, mobilizing, and monitoring staff in the school to perform their duties in order to achieve the stated aims and objectives of the educational system.
The secondary school level serves as a link between the primary and tertiary levels. Because of the significance of secondary education, the Federal Government stated the broad goals of secondary education as preparation for useful living in society and for higher education. The overarching principle here is that secondary schools should be able to provide high-quality secondary education to all students who are eligible.
However, it appears that secondary school teachers are not living up to expectations in discharging their obligations due to poor supervisory control by the Ministry of Education, problems ranging from a lack of commitment and dedication on the part of teaching staff, a high attrition rate, low staff morale, inadequate facilities and infrastructures, many teaching staffs are not committed to their professional tasks, late payment and staff incentives.
Government parastatals, such as the Ministry of Education, contribute to the problems of school supervision, such as insufficient funding to train and retrain inspectorate and school supervisors personnel, low staff morale, poor school supervision, and frequent policy changes.
Poor teacher remuneration, insufficient staffing/shortage of inspectors/school supervisors, a lack of instructional materials and resources, a lack of facilities for school supervisors/inspectors of education to work in, a lack of an evaluation system,
a lack of funding, political instability, constant change in educational policies, a lack of adequate training for inspectors, nepotism among school supervisors Teachers also contribute to the supervision problem in the following ways: Unprofessional work attitudes, a lack of interest, a lack of basic knowledge or formal training, and a large number of unqualified teachers
The community and society contribute to the problem of supervision in the following ways: poor public perception of teaching as a profession, low status accorded to teachers, and a lack of proper interest on the part of teaching staffs. All of the problems mentioned above have been linked to the numerous issues plaguing Nigeria’s school supervision system.
According to Omoregie (2005), today’s secondary school graduates are unable to function in society or enter higher education without the assistance or forgery of their parents. They are incapable of thinking for themselves or of respecting the opinions and feelings of others. Except for things that will give them quick money, they have no regard for the dignity of labor.
It must be emphasized that education cannot be a superior tool for achieving national development if secondary education is not effectively managed to achieve its goals and objectives. The principal is central to secondary school administration.
He is the man in charge, the one who receives all praise (in terms of success) and all criticism (in terms of failure) (in terms of failure). According to Ibukun (1999), the job of a school principal in Nigeria has become increasingly complex and dangerous. To deal with the situation,
With the system’s ever-increasing challenges, the school principal must be willing to see himself as a change agent. Secondary education in Nigeria, according to Ajayi (2002a) and Omoregie (2005), is riddled with crises of various dimensions and magnitude, all of which combine to suggest that the system is at a crossroads.
The sudden increase in student population, along with the attendant increased complexity of the school organization, as well as the introduction of the new school basic system of 6-3-3-4 or 9-3-4 system of education in the country, has necessitated a greater level of supervision than ever before. This is especially true because school supervision holds a unique place in the educational system.
Inspectors and supervisors help to improve classroom instruction by making teachers more competent and efficient, parents satisfied with their children’s performance, children motivated to work harder in order to achieve the required standard, and thus the goal of education is achieved in the long run.
No nation can rise above the level of its teachers, it has become axiomatic. It is also a fact that poorly trained teachers are likely to produce poor doctors, engineers, architects, lawyers, and fellow teachers in the country today and in the future.
From this vantage point, it is possible to conclude that the future of the country’s educational system is bleak, given the level of commitment from supervisors, the lax attitude of teachers, and the insufficient number of supervisors.
Aside from a lack of supervising personnel, most supervisors in Nigeria face issues such as staff welfare, non-implementation of disciplinary action against any erring staff, non-payment of allowances or touring advance, insufficient transportation, particularly in riverside areas within and outside of Lagos, and job insecurity for inspectorates/school supervisors.
Personal factors have also hampered teaching practice in Nigerian schools. For example, clinical supervision, which necessitates a careful and systematic procedure, cannot be attempted, and the counselling model, which necessitates additional technical competence, has received little to no attention from the Ministry of Education.
Supervision is a function that can be performed to varying degrees and in various forms in any school or learning institution. With the new trends in the Nigerian educational system, it is clear that effective supervision is required to improve the quality of instruction in schools. Various groups are already putting pressure on what should be taught and how it should be taught.
Furthermore, modern instructional materials are being introduced and used as teaching aids in the classroom. To meet these demands, it appears that supervision has an important role to play in deciding the nature and content of the curriculum, selecting school organizational patterns, and leaving materials that will enhance educational growth and development of both students and teachers.
There are several reasons for conducting school supervision. One of the most important reasons is to ensure that each individual teacher in the school system is carrying out the duties for which he was assigned. Another compelling reason is to increase teachers’ effectiveness so that they can contribute as much as possible to the achievement of the system’s goals (Adesina, 2001).
1.2 Problem Description
There has been a public outcry over the poor quality of education and the country’s continuing decline in educational standards, particularly at the secondary school level.
Currently, most principals have neglected their responsibilities as educational supervisors in favor of focusing on school management and administration. Yunus (2012) discovered that principals spent less than a third of their time supervising students.
Principals reported spending only 20% of their time on classroom visits, curriculum-related tasks, and staff development activities. The Ministry of Education has stated unequivocally that principals are responsible for successful curriculum implementation in their schools as professional leaders.
This goal will be impossible to achieve unless the principals supervise systematically and make it a top priority. Although supervision can help to improve the effectiveness of classroom teaching and learning activities, it is not without drawbacks. There are numerous impediments or obstacles.
According to Abdul Shukor (2001), a conflict separated the teacher being observed and the principals. Most likely as a result of teachers’ attitudes and perceptions that principals are underqualified and come from a different field of study.
Some principals delegated supervision duties to senior assistants. As a result, many problems arise, and many of the issues surrounding the field of study remain unexplained. As a result, this study is timely, relevant, and necessary. In line with the aforementioned issues, the study’s goal is to try to determine the relationship between the effectiveness of the principal’s supervision and curriculum implementation, teaching material preparation, and teacher professionalism enhancement.
According to Ogunu (2001), the number of supervisors/inspectors is insufficient, and a significant number of supervisors/inspectorates are said to be unqualified and unaware of their responsibilities due to a lack of in-service training and workshops.
As a result of these deficiencies, the quality of instruction has steadily declined, as evidenced by a lack of a staff welfare scheme, a high labor turnover of teaching staff from the teaching profession to other lucrative professions such as banking, oil, and multinational corporations, low staff morale, job insecurity for staff, a lack of modern supervisory equipment, bureaucracy, nepotism, a lack of disciplinary action for erring staff, and a lack of proactivity.
In this context, the study seeks to investigate the relationship between principals’ supervisory roles and teachers’ job satisfaction in Lagos State Secondary School District IV.
1.3 The Study’s Purpose
The primary goal of this research is to investigate the principals’ supervisory roles and teachers’ job satisfaction in Lagos State Secondary School District III.
The study’s specific goals are as follows:
i. investigate the extent to which principals’ supervisory roles affect teachers’ job satisfaction in schools;
ii. determine whether teachers’ job satisfaction has a significant impact on teachers’ productivity; iii. determine whether principals’ supervisory roles improve secondary school teaching and learning; and iv. determine whether principals’ supervisory roles influence teachers’ commitment to work in secondary schools.
1.4 Research Issues
During the course of this study, the following research questions will be addressed:
i. Will the supervisory roles of principals affect teachers’ job satisfaction in schools?
ii. Will teachers’ job satisfaction have a significant impact on their productivity? iii. Will principals’ supervisory roles improve secondary school teaching and learning? iv. Will the principal’s supervision affect teachers’ willingness to work in secondary schools?
1.5 Hypotheses for Research
Ho1: There is no significant relationship between the supervisory roles of principals and teachers’ job satisfaction in schools.
Ho2: There is no statistically significant link between teacher job satisfaction and teacher productivity. Ho3: There is no significant relationship between principals’ supervisory roles and secondary school teaching and learning. Ho4: There is no statistically significant relationship between principal supervision and teachers’ commitment to work in secondary schools.
1.6 Importance of the Research
This research will be useful to school administrators, ministries of education, and other government agencies.
The study will assist various school administrators in comprehending the importance of effective school supervision as a quality control measure at various levels of education. It will teach school administrators the best school supervision techniques to use in order to maintain high academic performance and school effectiveness. It will also help school administrators understand their role in the routine supervision of teachers, non-teaching staff, and students’ academic performance.
This study will also benefit the Ministry of Education by allowing for proper planning and implementation of supervision policies for various school management. Through proper inspection and good interrelationships between school administrators and their teachers, the ministries will assist in school supervision as a quality control measure.
This study will benefit government agencies by providing school facilities, creating a conducive academic environment, and raising educational standards.
It is critical to strengthen effective supervisory control measures at all levels of education. Scholars of supervision will benefit as well, as they will gain more knowledge about areas of interest in supervision and which areas of the study to pursue for further research.
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