Full Project - APPRAISAL OF INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISION AND TEACHERS’ PERFORMANCE IN KWARA STATE

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Full Project – APPRAISAL OF INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISION AND TEACHERS’ PERFORMANCE IN KWARA STATE

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CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

Background to the Study

The value of supervision lies on the development and improvement of the teaching/learning situation and is reflected in the development of pupils. It then becomes imperative that the school environment and teachers are constantly monitored and approved to the achievement of education goals. It is the tool of quality control in the school system and a phase of school administration which focuses primarily upon the achievement of appropriate expectation of educational system (Peretomode, 2004). It has long been recognized in the educational setting. In the study of Berg and associates (1994) for instance, the finding showed that stress level of staff, most especially teachers are significantly reduced through supervision, as they provide individual planned care for patient with dementia. Hallberg (1994); Nzabonimpa (2011) also found out that instructional supervision allows the improvement of teacher-student relationship, reduction of stress level, enhancement of self-confidence among students and knowledge enrichment. Also, supervision is seen as the intervention given by a senior member of a certain profession to a junior or group of member working in a similar profession. In some studies, supervision enables teachers and educators to reflect upon themselves, particularly on their formative learning needs. White and associates (1998) on the other hand, noted that instructional supervision makes work routine easier for the staff (teachers) as they can openly share their difficulties with someone who understands their experience as well as their feelings. Clearly, this study emphasizes the role of instructional supervision on providing quality educational service. In the case of secondary education, supervision is important to ensure that students are given enough attention.

The need for an effective educational supervision in today’s education industry cannot be questioned. This is because of the falling standard of education in Nigeria which is giving more concern than satisfaction. The need to improve teaching and learning capabilities of teachers and students is often the basis for supervision in educational organization. Global educational policies and programs alike have brought forth significant challenges to many education systems around the globe, though educational policy in the twenty-first century is the key to global security, sustainability and survival (Olssen, Good, &O’neill 2006). Education for All (EFA), Universal Primary Education (UPE), and Universal Secondary Education (USE) are some of the notable global educational policies implemented ages ago. In his master‘s thesis, Habimana (2008) points out that political leaders and researchers continuously stress that in our time education is declining all over the world as it faces diverse challenges. Numerous recent studies still have indicated that today‘s education systems in countless nation-states around the globe are facing a number of education-related challenges that are making it difficult for them to achieve educational goals and objectives than ever before. Globalization is one of noticeable challenges today. The effect of globalization on education, on the other hand today, has called for survival measures of education all over the world, and all organizations continuously strive for sustainable development and survival with no let up.

Responding to this scenario, Armstrong cited in Nzabonimpa (2011) suggests that this survival can basically be ensured through adequate work supervision as one of strategic survival approaches. As a manager in any organization, contends Hunsaker andHunsaker (2009), one must ensure that objectives are met and also that employees learn how to enhance their performance through regular appraisals and supervision. However, astute observations, articles and repeated educational research studies indicate that there is an ongoing decline of supervision in schools throughout the globe today (Bentley cited in Nzabonimpa 2011). Education is even being criticized in some developing countries vis-à-vis its products. With reference to this, in VOA Special English Education Report, 2011, US president Barack Obama was quoted saying, “If Americans want to win the future, and then they also have to win the race to educate their children”. Referring to president Obama’s assertive statement, the word ‘raceʼ simply implies ongoing serious competition whereby countries are competing for top education success throughout the globe. To achieve this goal remains a question.

Teachers’ performance among other staff in schools e.g. secondary schools, received the increasing interest and concern among the researchers. The performance of every teacher is expected to reflect ability to drive the changes within schools; secondary schools included and therefore can create an impact towards the schools. Because of the lack of monitoring and guidance from the higher officials or often referred to as the supervisors, the teachers and their performance cannot be assured as effective in the schools. The performance of teachers in secondary schools is important. Therefore the functions and roles assigned for them should be well addressed. The factors involved are the organizational structure in which they operate their workload and work management with the appropriate instructional supervision. The teacher effective performance can be ensured and can have a significant outcome according to the task or responsibility given to them.

In 1882 education ordinance formulated, educational supervision providing an inspectorate office to monitor affairs of schools in the country. The first Nigerian education ordinance was that of 1887, which made the schools open for inspection at all times. Good dictionary of education defines supervision as” all efforts of designated school officials towards providing leadership to the teachers and other educational workers in the improvement of instruction”. To Ijaiya (2013), supervision is perceived as a process concerned with growth and development of both human (i.e. Teachers, Publics and other School Personnel) and material resources within the school for the ultimate benefit of the learners and the society. It is seen as legitimate efforts made by a designated professional to assist the classroom teacher to improve on his competence so that he/she becomes a self propelling practitioner as well as ensuring a favorable setting for effective teaching and learning. Supervision as it is, planned for all round improvement on factors that affect teaching/learning process, especially instructive management of school, curriculum, and methods of teaching and personality of teachers. Schools are designed to bring about learning in pupils through the efforts of teachers. Supervisors are required to exhibit their competence, tactfulness, sincerity and integrity in their work (Nambassa, 2003 cited in Nzabonimpa 2011).

Looking critically at the above definitions of supervision, instructional supervision as related to this study can therefore be seen, as an aspect of school administration which focuses primarily upon improvement of teaching and other school activities for ultimate achievement of instructional goals. Beyond doubt, lack of supervision has apparently made some teachers no longer regard teaching as a desired career and ever take it for granted. To make the matter worse, teachers who fall under this category do not mind about improving their teaching, school performance and report in school whenever they like and do school duties unenthusiastically (Education Policy Review Report, 2005).

One of the most fundamental developments in educational administration has been the evolution of the role of the school head teacher from his status as that of head teacher, record keeper and major disciplinarian to its present status as a professional leader in the school. Over time, the head teacher’s teaching and clerical duties have been reduced and emphasis has been placed on the head’s supervisory roles in the school. It is felt that only the head teacher has the authority to make administrative changes necessary to improve teaching and learning situations (Global Literacy Project, 2008). An important characteristic that differentiates instructional supervision from other forms of supervision is that it is school-based and therefore an internal process. The role of head teacher is therefore better referred to as that of an instructional supervisor rather than simply a supervisor (Evetts, 2008). This not only depicts the head teacher as a leading professional responsible for raising standards of teaching and learning but also as a leader in the institution who has the ability to influence the action of others to ensure that his/her followers subscribe to the requirements of instructions.

Consequently, it is significant to note that supervision and the officials assigned to carry out the supervision play a vital role in the educational organization most especially the secondary education, in order to make the overall operation and resource system a valuable asset for the whole organization. With effective supervision carried out by the effective supervisors in any educational organization like secondary schools, the students are being benefited in a way that they will become fully developed and also teachers’ effectiveness will be enhanced. Hence, this study intends to examine instructional supervision and teachers’ performance in secondary schools in Ilorin South Local Government Area of Kwara State.

Statement of the Problem

This research work is to investigate the instructional supervision and teachers’ performance in secondary schools in Ilorin South Local Government Area of Kwara State. The teacher’s performance is expected to reflect in their ability to drive the change within the schools and therefore making an impact towards the teaching and learning activities in the schools.

Fullan (2007) cited in Alimi and Akinfolarin (2012) in a comprehensive report on how school principals acquire and deploy their fiscal and human resources wrote that principals report spending a great deal of time managing facilities, supervising staff, dealing with discipline and security, and student learning. They devote less time to professional development and curriculum supervision.

One of the most critical problems facing the teaching profession is how to improve the development of beginning teachers. Teachers find their first few years of teaching a trying and often defeating experience. Entrance into the teaching profession is marked by an initial period of challenges and opportunities. Teachers begin their careers facing the most difficult assignments with lack of time for planning, supervision and interaction with colleagues (Odell & Ferraro, 1992). As Robinson (1998) pointed out, to be successful, teachers must meet their challenges with perseverance, hard work and quality assistance from experienced teachers and administrators who are willing to provide and recognize extensive support for them during the first few years of their teaching careers, effective supervision and coaching programs at the induction level have been found to ameliorate beginning teacher concerns, and to increase teachers’ focus on instruction (Huling-Austin, 1990). Among secondary school teachers, some often complain about their administrators, the head teacher and the principals, as they primarily focus on administrative duties, rather than giving instructional and academic supports. Thus, the image of instructional leadership has become awkward in the professional rhetoric but all too often lacking administrative practice of many school administrators. Teachers in Ilorin South local government area secondary schools of Kwara State have been finding it difficult to cope with the teaching profession due to inadequate supervision by the principals, vice-principals and HODs in secondary schools.

As the school head or administrator, it is his/her responsibility to provide effective and efficient management of the school. Schools are headed by administrative and educational leader and their leadership roles have a primary function only, and this function is to ensure that successful learning take place for all students in the school through supervision of their staff. The principal, vice-principal and Heads of the Department (HODs) have been deficient in the checking of lesson notes, scheme of work, teachers’ punctuality, teachers’ regularity in class and students’ notes. In the aspect of supervision of instruction, the principals have not been performing up to the task in the area of moderation of examination question papers, moderation of making scheme and observation of classroom teaching. The problems experienced by teachers should not lead supervisors to conclude that all induction programs should focus solely on survival issues (Glatthorn, 1990). Ijaya (2013) explained that supervision is a process aimed at promoting growth and development in a school setting, whereby a designated officer assists classroom teachers to become more competent and self-propelling.

According to Glatthorn (1990), teachers can also be characterized in terms of their preferences for certain kinds of supervisory practices. There is general agreement that most teachers require the intensive assistance of clinical supervision. To improve their instructional performance, the supervisor should also work with them in two other styles, a direct supervisory style and flexible collaborative style. Stemming from the need for improved supervision of teachers is a need to develop a connection between supervision and professional development (Dollansky, 1997). The route taken in professional development should parallel teacher needs (Jonasson, 1993). Professionalism of teachers depends on how their particular needs are satisfied. It is the purpose of administrators as supervisors to provide necessary and effective models of supervisory practice for professional development. Teachers need to have a choice among supervisory styles available for their academic growth. Thus, personal and professional development is the outcome of effective supervision (Oja&Reiman, 1998). During the past several decades, instructional supervision has been identified as a means to enhance the performance of teachers in professional roles, since being a true “professional” requires that a teacher has to be fully capable of making appropriate decisions and providing high quality services. It also requires the teacher to be in constant pursuit of better understanding and more efficacious methodologies. Thus, supervision of instruction is closely connected with professional development. This connection has been the theme of a thorough study in recent decades (Wanzare& Da Costa, 2008)

Consequently, the researcher’s interaction with members of the school society shows that there is dissatisfaction among the stakeholders’ in the performance of teachers of secondary schools in Ilorin South Local Government Area of Kwara State. The inadequacy of teachers’ performance is attributed to inadequate instructional supervision in secondary education in the locality.

Purpose of the study

The general purpose of this study is to examine how effective and efficient instructional supervision has yielded positive impacts on the teacher’s performance. Different reasons have recently been identified, responsible for the fall in quality of education in Nigeria; secondary schools are not left out. The causes include among others, student unrest, examination malpractices, leakages, teachers ineffectiveness, teachers nonchalant attitude to work etc. These are attributed to lack of proper management and inadequacy in educational supervision in general.

The study also aims at emphasizing on the need for adequate instructional supervision of teacher’s in secondary schools, for enhancement and improvement in their efficiency in teaching in all secondary schools.

This study intends to examine the relationship between instructional supervision and teachers’ performance in Ilorin South Local Government Area Secondary Schools of Kwara State. Other specific purposes include to:

Investigate how often teachers are supervised in Ilorin South local Government Area secondary schools, Kwara State;
Investigate the methods often used to supervise teachers in Ilorin South local government area secondary schools, Kwara State;
Investigate the level of students’ academic performance in Ilorin South local government area secondary schools, Kwara State.
Investigate the relationship that exists between instructional supervision and performance of secondary school teachers in Ilorin South local government area secondary schools, Kwara State.

Research Questions

The following research questions are raised to guide this study:

How often are teachers supervised in Kwara State secondary schools?
What are the methods often used to supervise teachers in Kwara State secondary schools?
What is the level of teachers’ performance in Kwara State secondary schools?

Research Hypotheses

The following research hypotheses are formulated to guide the conduct of this study:

Ho: There is no significant relationship between instructional supervision and teachers ` performance in Kwara State secondary schools.

Operational Hypotheses

Ho₁: There is no significant relationship between instructional supervision and method of teaching in Kwara State secondary schools.

Ho₂: There is no significant relationship between instructional supervision and lesson plan preparation in Kwara State secondary schools.

Ho₃: There is no significant relationship between instructional supervision and classroom management in Kwara State secondary schools.

Scope of the Study

The study focuses on instructional supervision and teachers’ performance in senior secondary schools in Ilorin South Local Government Area of Kwara State.

The study attempts to measure the level of effectiveness, relevance and adequacy of instructional supervision (independent variable)which include checking of lesson notes, scheme of work, teachers punctuality, teachers regularity in class and students notes. It will also include moderation of examination question papers, moderation of making scheme and observation of classroom teaching in relation to teachers’ performance (dependent variable) would be limited to method of teaching, lesson plan preparation and classroom management. The study would mainly use questionnaire for data collection. Finally, the study is limited to Ilorin South Local Government Area senior secondary schools.

Significance of the study

For achieving positive result on students’ academic performance in schools most especially basic schools, supervision of staff must be a routine affair in achieving academic goals as well as broad goals of the schools. Since the study focuses on educational supervision and teachers’ effectiveness, it would be of help to teachers and school heads to discover and make the best use of experience acquired and education qualities possessed by them. It serves as basis for concrete and constructive advice to improve the qualities of education of children in basic schools.

The result of this research will be useful to education policy makers, as it will enable them to realize the urgent need, to give supervision a pride of place in basic schools, so as to achieve the aims and objectives of basic education. It will also be of help to the curriculum planners and developers to consider necessary ideas and facts on educational supervision. Furthermore, this work will expose the students of educational management in Nigerian universities who may intend to carryout research work or write on basic education settings and finally, it shows the role of educational supervision towards achieving the aims and objectives of teaching and learning in basic schools.

Operational Definitions of terms

The following terms have been defined in the context of this writing as follows:

Supervision: This is the process of helping the teachers in the area of teaching such as methodology, writing of lesson notes, knowledge of subject matter etc. in order to help the learners. This is usually carried out by the Principal, Vice-Principal and Head of Departments.

Instructional Supervision: A process in education with the primary purpose of supporting and sustaining all teachers in their goal of career-long growth and development, which ultimately results in quality instruction.

Instructional Supervisors: These include school principals, vice-principals, heads of departments and all those who monitor the work of other teachers and help them to improve their performance at school level.

Teachers’ Supervision:These are the services activities that exist to help teachers to grow professionally to do their work better. They include checking of lesson notes, scheme of work, teachers’ punctuality, teachers’ regularity in class and students notes. They also include moderation of examination question papers, moderation of making scheme and observation of classroom teaching.

Teachers’ performance: This refers to the outputs of teachers in the performance of their job in the school system. It includes method of teaching, students’ assessment, lesson plan preparation and classroom management.

Classroom management: This refers to planning, supervising, controlling and coordinating the activities of students in teaching–learning process.

Student Assessment: It can be defined as the way students are evaluated whether for placement or promotion in terms of giving of assignment.

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