The Principal as Supervisor: Some Descriptive Findings and Important Questions

Abstract

Supervision is defined as the attempt by the principal to stimulate, coordinate and guide the continued growth of teachers. A team from the Center for the Advanced Study of Educational Administration at the University of Oregon, working with one U.S. school district, sought to arrive at a description of teachers' perceptions of administrative and supervisory practices in the schools of that district. It was found that teachers appeared to turn more often to their colleagues than to the principal for guidance on certain key professional issues and that the practices of the principal were often in conflict with teachers' normative expectations of supervisory behavior. Indeed, the principal's major responsibilities were seen as budget, coordination policy and public relations rather than instructional leadership.

Toward Effective Supervision of Classroom Instruction

“…This may be a result of the increasing role that unions have in the schools, or perhaps it is merely a measure of the time in which we live and of changing relationships to authority in general. Croft (1969) found that teachers will more often solicit help from colleagues rather than administrators on important professional issues and that they tend to see the principal as the person who does and should worry about budgets, public relations, and keeping the school together. Other studies tend to support this perspective.…”

Supervisory practices in non-formal educational settings as perceived by agricultural education teachers: A national study

“…Ziolkowski (1965) found that two-thirds of teachers in a Canadian study indicated that they received no formal supervisory visits from principals. Croft (1968) reported that most teachers in one school district had not been observed very often.…”

Life Skill Educational Management Based on Vocational for Students with Disabilities to be Ready for Work

“…The principal who functions as a supervisor has a role to coordinate. A research team from the Center for Advanced Study of Educational Administration at the University of Oregon in collaboration with a US school district discovered that the principal responsibility was indeed as a budget regulator, coordinating and establishing relationships with the community [12]. Therefore, the role of principal as the teacher given additional assignments (Minister of National Education Regulation Number 28 of 2010 concerning the Assignment of Teachers as Principals) has a very important role in coordinating.…”