14 Principles and practices of supervision and monitoring of education system in India

Dr Gurmanjit Kaur

epgp books

 

TABLE OF CONTENTS

  1. Introduction
  2. Supervision
  3. Educational supervision
  4. The Roles of School Principal in Supervision
  5. Conclusion

 

Introduction

 

Supervision is essentially the practice of monitoring the performance of school staff, noting the merits and demerits and using befitting and harmonious techniques to amend the flaws while still improving on the merits thereby increasing the standard of schools and achieving educational goals.

 

Learning outcomes:

After studying this topic, the students will be able to:

  1. Know the concept of supervision.
  2. Acquaint with the definition given by scholars.
  3. Enlist and describe the principles of educational supervision.
  4. Learn about practices of educational supervision related with beginner and individual teachers.
  5. Explain the supervising practices related to curriculum and the role of school Principal in supervision.
  6. Know the meaning and process of monitoring.

 

Supervision

   

The action, process, or occupation of supervising means a critical watching and directing (as of activities or a course of action). The term supervision is derived from word “Super video” meaning to oversee, as mentioned by Adepoju (1998). It is an interaction between at least two persons for the improvement of an activity. It is also a combination or integration of processes, procedures and conditions that are consciously designed to advance the work effectiveness of individuals and group. Adepoju (1998) defines school supervision as the process of bringing about improvement in instruction by working with teachers who are working with pupils. It has also been described as a process of stimulating growth and a means of helping teachers to achieve excellence in teaching.

 

     Supervision is a way of stimulating, guiding, improving, refreshing, encouraging and overseeing certain group with the hope of seeking their cooperation in order to make the supervisors successful in their task of supervision. Supervision is essentially the practice of monitoring the performance of school staff, noting the merits and demerits and using befitting and harmonious techniques to amend the flaws while still improving on the merits thereby increasing the standard of schools and achieving educational goals.

 

Basic Principles for Effective Supervision

  1. Healthy Atmosphere: The environment should be made free from tension and emotional worries. The staff should      be given incentives for work.
  2. Staff Orientation: The quality and quantity of the work must be specified in clean and clear terms. Staff should be made to understand clearly what to expect and what not to expect. New staff must be given the necessary orientation. They should have a schedule to know from where to get information and materials to help them perform the work satisfactorily.
  3. Guidance and Staff Training: Staff should be offered necessary guidance. They should be guided on how to carry out the assignment, standard should be set by the supervisor while information should be given ruling out the possibility of rumors. Information should be for everybody and specifics to individuals assigned to a particular task. Techniques of how to do it must be given at all times. The school must always arrange and participate in staff training.
  4. Immediate Recognition of Good Work: Good work should be recognized. This implies that the acknowledgement of any good work done must be immediate and made public to others which will then serves as incentive to others. Incentive of merit, recommendation for promotion, etc. improve performances.
  5. Constructive Criticisms: Poor work done should be constructively criticized. Advice and personal relationship should be given to the affected staff. It must be stated here that such criticisms should be made with mind free of bias.
  6. Opportunity for Improvement: Staff should be given opportunity to aspire higher and prove their worth. They should therefore be allowed to use their initiatives in performing their jobs and taking decision. It will give them the motivation to work much harder.
  7. Motivation and Encouragement: Staff should be motivated and encouraged to work to increase their productivity. They should be encouraged to improve their ability to achieve organizational goal.

       So, Supervision is an intervention that is provided by a senior member of a profession to a junior member or members of that same profession. This relationship is evaluative, extends over time, and has the simultaneous purposes of enhancing t he professional functioning of the junior members, monitoring the quality of professional services.

 

      According to Ben Harris: Educational supervision of school personnel over individuals, even objects for the purpose of control and administration of school until educational plans are changed and directly influence achievement of fundamental educational objectives of the school accordingly. ‘Echson Vegal’ defines educational supervision and guidance as: ‘Supervision is cooperation with individuals and is interactive instead of being direct; instead of authority, it is a sign of people-oriented and instead of supervisor orientated it is teacher-oriented.’

 

    ‘Snops’ considers supervision as an operation and experience aiming at improvement of teaching and educational plans. Basics of Supervision are to see that the organization is meeting its goals. It is to ensure that employees are performing their jobs in such a way that they are contributing a share in the accomplishment of goals. Here the focus is on daily problems and goals.

 

Educational Supe rvision

Educational supervision, it is based on the principles, which consider ensures purposefulness and dynamism in an educational system. In order to accomplish a certain task, either simple or specialized, it is required that doer must start his activity, continue with it and accomplish the same by fully observing respective principles of the said activity. Realization of views and theories of educational supervision in an educational system and getting assistance of the same for constant improvement of quality and production of new educational qualities depends on fundamental principles of supervision. Educational guides must follow principles of educational supervision and guidance for improvement of educational and learning conditions. They must always be concerned about the said principles in their plans and activities.

 

While discussing the Principles of Educational Guidance and Supervision Marx and Snops (1961) stated a few educational principles:

  1. Educational guidance and supervision, which is a comprehensive part of educational plan, is considered group service.

2.All teachers do need educational guidance. This is a fundamental principle. The responsibility of this service lies on the part of school master or educational guide.

3. Educational guidance and supervision plans must be prepared and designed in such a way as they fulfill all personal requirements of school teachers.

4. All persons, who are involved in education process, educational or non-educational, do need educational guidance and supervision and must be under coverage of educational plans accordingly.

5. Educational guidance and supervision must explain and indicate educational goals. The educational goals and their importance must always be cautioned to teachers and be regarded as a base for work and activity of educational guides and teachers.

6. Educational guidance and supervision must be in the direction of improvement of attitudes, knowledge, behavior and empowering desirable human relations among all school teachers and act upon development of its relationship with the society.

7. Educational guidance and supervision must organize extra-curricular activities of students and lead the same accordingly.

8. The responsibility for improvement of educational process and plan and learning at school classes and school lies on the part of an educational guide, teacher, school master and head of district education department and on the part of Ministry of Education at national level.

9. Required predictions for procurement of required facilities, associated with educational guidance and supervision plans must be included in annual budget.

10. For educational guidance and supervision, both short-term and long-term planning is required.

11. An educational guide, who is an executive of educational guidance and supervision plans, must benefit from counseling aids of education department, ministry of education, universities and other local, provincial and national education organizations at all levels.

12. Educational supervision must analyze and evaluate the latest research findings and hire the same in education.

13. Effectiveness and success of educational guidance and supervision plans must also be evaluated at school by beneficiaries and informed persons and scholars outside school.

 

Scientists include other items in educational supervision and guidance, some of which are listed here:

1. Principle of optimism in educational supervision: Optimism and positivism are primary fundamentals of an educational activity. Educational supervisors must promote optimism through which each member of the organization shall promote their counterparts. Optimism emphasizes positive aspects of teachers. It assumes that compulsion and direct control of teachers is not effective and assigns management of teachers and students to themselves.Sincerity is among fundamental principle.

 

2. Principle of planned educational supervision: Planned educational supervision benefiting from a plan and planning for educational supervision is more essential than any other educational task. This principle makes supervisors benefit from a certain framework and path and evaluate respective results of supervision accordingly. During each period, a separate planning must be arranged for educational supervision.

 

3. Organizational  Principle:  Educational  guidance  and  supervision  is  an organizational behavior and must be regarded as a management responsibility at school. Considering the schools where there is no official educational guidance and supervision, school master must play the role of an educational guide. The responsibility for improvement of educational process and learning at class and school lies on the part of the educational guide, teacher and school master. Regarding education department, the said responsibility is fulfilled by head of education department and at national level, the said responsibility lies on the part of the Ministry of Education.

 

4. Principle of Responsibility and Power: In order to perform guidance and supervision at schools, respective power must be given to educational guide in proportion to his responsibility because the educational guide is not able to settle educational problems by establishing official liaison through organizational hierarchy, relying on respective instructions. The more educational guides rely on their expert knowledge, skills and professional abilities, the more teachers will show eagerness to accept their guidelines.

 

5. Principles of Group Dynamism: Supervision is group task in which a teacher, headmaster, educational guide, staff education officials must play a great role. In order to modify various education components,it is needed to collaborate with individuals with various expertises. This shall be possible only through making individual dynamic in a group work. Any individual, who is involved in school modification process, must be within the framework of guidance and supervision. Thus, this responsibility is excluded from an individual form and a special group and goes beyond sc hool and society. Supervision and guidance is regarded as a team responsibility, which must be presented in form of group dynamisms.

 

6. Principle of Professional Growth and Development: One of the most important goals of educational guidance and supervision is professional development of teachers and promotion of knowledge, skills and information of teachers. Extension of self-reliance and independence in work for teachers is among fundamental steps, taken for realization of this great goal. Orientation with application of modern phenomena at schools such as computer, using educational software, learning new expert knowledge and hire of modern educational methods all provide suitable grounds for professional growth of teachers. Acquiring fresh experiences and k nowledge, which gives fresh abilities and initiative to teachers, is necessary and significant for promotion of efficiency among teachers, but it is so valuable in change of personality of teachers and raising spirits and motivation among teachers and for their scientific and occupational promotion.

 

    7. Principle of Systemic Thinking: Supervision must be constant and multilateral, including inputs, process and outputs for education system and it is not limited only to a certain part.

 

8. Principle of Needs Assessment: In order to obtain desirable results in supervision and guidance, respective needs of society, teachers, students and the entire educational system must be identified and supervisors should pay close attention to the aforesaid needs during supervisio n process.

 

9. Principle of supervision comprehensiveness: Supervision over educational system must cover the entire body of educational system.

 

10. Principle of Worthiness of Individual and Group: Different methods of educational guidance and supervision shall not bring about equal results for all teachers. At school, a teacher must feel that he enjoys worthiness and importance with respect to school affairs, especially in educational decision making. Positive self- assumption by teacher with respect to himself and his job shall lead his behavior for realization of school objectives.

 

11. Principle of Reactive Management: On the strong point of the said principle, before problems become serious and manifested, supervisors must predict possible problems using required means and prevent occurrence of serious problems.

 

12. Principle of Procedural Supervision: It means that supervision is a constant and developing activity. No doubt human lifestyle and social and family life must constantly be improved. Kaizen is of the view that even one day should not be passed without any improvement. So organization, which is an open system must constantly be developed. On a whole, attention to the fact that educational supervision is a process shall cause that supervisors be promoted in some issues:

●     Acceptance and justification of constant improvement philosophy at school

●     Design of desirable and permanent condition in supervision

●     Compiling a timetable for constant improvement at school

●     Change and modification of teaching methods of teachers.

 

13.  Principle of cooperation means that materialization of supervision goals is not possible only by an educational supervisor only rather, all school staff must get engaged in fulfillment of this goal. According to results conducted, one of effective school characteristics is that joint goal of educational personnel of these schools would be to improve the education. Thus, educational guidance and supervision is a responsibility, distributed among various educational system positions and parts of primary or secondary duties of a few educational system officials is to act upon educational guidance and supervision.

 

14.  Principle of priority of prevention to treatment system is that we act upon certain measures in order to prevent further educational problems. Usually, the principle of prevention in educational supervision is realized in two forms: Direct prevention: In this method, teachers and students become resistant against the elements leading to drop of quality of education and teaching. It means that an educational supervisor offers certain recommendations, teachings and briefing sessions in order to maintain and to promote awareness of teachers and students.

 

15. Principle of being scientific and specialized: Nowadays, educational guidance and supervision plans enjoy scientific orientation and its success in removal of educational obstacles and improvement of teachers’ performance owes to achievements of organizational and behavioral sciences. This principle indicates that educational supervisors must achieve a scientific insight for supervision. Scientific insight can be explained by separate definition of the two concepts of “insight and science”. In general term, insight refers to awareness whatsoever. However, in special perception, it means understanding the relationship among the components of a phenomenon entirely or the entire phenomenon. In general term, the concept of science covers the entire human knowledge. Thus, scientific insight refers to understanding of scientific methods and perception of manner and application of the said methods in solving problems.

 

    Enjoyment of scientific insight means that individuals enjoy essential and scientific attitude toward respective issues and affairs, associated with their job, profession and their personal life and assumes that research is effective and efficient for solving their problems. Hire of scientific methods and problem solving procedures for those individuals, who enjoy scientific insight, is natural. If an individual enjoys scientific insight, he enjoys specific personal and behavioral characteristics, which differentiate him from others who don’t enjoy such insight.

 

Practices of Educational Supe rvision: According to Glickman et al. (2004), the supervisory tasks that have a potential to affect teacher development are as follows:

    A. Direct assistance: which is the provision of personal, ongoing contact with individual teacher to observe and assist in classroom instruction.

B. Group Development: is the gathering together of teachers to make decisions on mutual instructional improvement.

C. Professional Development: is the task which includes learning opportunities for staffs provided or supported by the school and school system.

D. Curriculum Development: is the revision and modification of the content, p lans and materials of classroom instruction.

 

E. Action Research: is the systematic study by a staff of the school on what is happening in the classroom and school with the aim of improving learning. By understanding how teachers grow most advantageous in a supportive and challenging environment, the supervisor can plan the tasks of supervision to bring together organizational goals and teacher needs into a single fluid entity.

 

Supervision at School Level in teaching learning process is a day-to-day and continuous process, the function of the supervision at the school level should also be a continuous responsibility. Within the school system, the supervisors are the school principal & vice-principal, the department heads and the senior teachers. The educational programs supervision manual of Ministry of Education (MOE, 1994) has sufficiently listed the roles of supervision at the school level as follows:

 

● Beginner teacher supervision: The supervisor assists in developing the beginner teacher vocationally by different available means. The educational supervisor depends on specified supervising styles, such as class visits and meetings, without inclination to practice the helping supervising styles having a great effect in developing cognitions and skills of teachers.

 

● Individual Supervising practices: Supervisor assists the teachers to discover errors, aspires qualifying teachers for different class stands and assists developing and qualifying teachers to develop their skills of evaluation. The supervisor works to modernize educational concepts and teaching styles of the teacher.

 

● Supervising new developments: The supervisor shares in making the teacher oriented with new developments. The supervisor raises the motivation of the teacher by showing his achievements and capabilities. The supervisor understands the needs of the teacher and his problems and assists him to solve them. The supervisor urges the teacher to employ learning resources (labs, computer and the library) in education.

 

● Training supervising practices: A supervisor must give training to teachers in many areas.

     -The supervisor trains the teacher to put education plans.

-The supervisor assists the teacher in specifying his training needs.

-The supervisor trains the teacher on developing instruments of evaluating students.

-The supervisor trains the teacher on how to present the scientific content.

-The supervisor trains the teacher to solve problems and how to decide inside the classroom.

-The supervisor organizes the training workshops that develop the teacher’s performance.

-The supervisor employs minor education to train new teachers.

-The supervisor works to organize symposiums and seminars to teachers related to educational learning process.

 

●  Supervising practices related to curriculums: The supervisor lays instructions to employ the guide-book of the teacher to implement the curriculum effectively. The supervisor lays directions to employ the Teacher’s Guide-book to effectively implement the curriculum. The educational supervisors participate in preparing curriculums and their development and evaluating them without intervention in planning them. The supervisor directs the teacher to make benefit from local environment in enriching curriculum. The supervisor makes the aware of other sources that can be teacher revised without the school text. The supervisor assists the teacher in facing difficulties that confront implementation of the curriculum.

 

●  Collective supervising practices: The supervisor works at a team spirit with those whom he deals with. Supervisor leads to the weakness of innovation and renewal of them, and belittles the size of expectations wished. The supervisor directs the teacher how to control the class obtained an explained by increasing the burdens of the educational supervisor and difficulty of specifying the cognitive and vocational needs, related to how to control the class accurately, with unavailability of publications and training courses that assist the teacher to appropriately control the class.

 

●  Supervising research: The supervisor works on participating the teacher in preparing the procedural researches and developing projects. And that can be explained that teachers view that the educational supervisors are careless of procedural researches and projects concerned with developing the teacher.

“the supervisor encourages the teaching staff to find an instructional environment meets the needs of users”, And that can be explained that teachers view that the educational supervisor has a cognition not enough in things that he should follow working to find an appropriate educational environment and its effect on educational outcomes.

 

 

The Roles of School Principal in Supervision

The school principal in his capacity as instructional leader, has some responsibilities:

  • Creating a conducive environment to facilitate supervisory activities in the school by organizing all necessary resources;
  • Giving the professional assistance and guidance to teachers to enable them to realize instructional objectives;
  • Supervise classes when and deemed necessary;
  • Coordinating evaluation  of  teaching- learning  process  and  the  outcome through initiation of active participation of staff members and local community at large;
  • Coordinating the staff members of the school and other professional educators to review and strengthen supervisory activities and;
  • Cause the evaluation of the school community relations and on the basis of evaluation results strive to improve and strengthen such relations. Monitoring: Monitoring is the process of collecting and interpreting data on specified indicators to provide management and stakeholders with evidence of the extent of progress towards achieving the objectives from the implementation of a plan.

        The monitoring and supervision of the aspects, which are easily quantifiable, have generally received the attention of the planners, implementers and supervisors. For this, there is a need to have an effective monitoring system through which not only the progress of the programme can be analyzed but also timely corrective measures can be undertaken. The levels for monitoring and feedback mechanisms have been envisaged in Table 1.

 

Table 1: The levels for monitoring and feedback mechanisms

Central level Centre supervision centre
Regional level Regional Supervision centre
District level District inspectors, Advisors & resource centre
School level Principal or head teacher

          The State Office will also reflect on information about enrolment and actual attendance of children in schools but will not send it to the National Level. SCERT and state project office reflect on information and collate information sent by DPO. DPO and DIETs reflect on information and collate information sent by different blocks. Block level coordinator analyzes the data sent by CRCs and collects information at his own level.Cluster Resource Center coordinator consolidates and analyze data. Community based organizations collects information at school level. Every teacher analyze data on learner’s achievement to reflect on students’ learning and performance For quality monitoring a computerized District Information System for Education (DISE) is operational in the country which looks into several quality related parameters like student-classroom ratio, teacher-pupil ratio, teachers’ profiles and examination results. In addition, Government of India, with the help of NCERT, has operationalized a quarterly monitoring system in the form of Quality Monitoring Tools (QMTs) to monitor quality aspects such as student attendance, teacher availability in schools, classroom practices, student learning achievement, academic supervision provided by BRC/ CRCs, community support, etc. Monitoring provides government officials with means to learn from past experience in order to improve planning and resource allocation decisions and in order to demonstrate results as part of accountability to key stakeholders. As far as teachers’ monitoring is concerned, it involves – faculty development programs, fund utilization, placement record of teaching centres, internal audit mechanism, trainees teachers feedback evaluation and % of trainees completing training versus target.

 

Conclusion:

 

Educational supervision, it is based on the principles, which consider ensures purposefulness and dynamism in an educational system. In order to accomplish a certain task, either simple or specialized, it is required that doer must start his activity, continue with it and accomplish the same by fully observing respective principles of the said activity. Practices of Educational Supervision includes Direct assistance, Group Development, Professional Development, Curriculum Development and Action Research.The monitoring and supervision of the aspects, which are easily quantifiable, have generally received the attention of the planners, implementers and supervisors and proper execution and inspection at various levels is required for establishing its efficiency.

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Web links

  • Carron, G. and Chau, T.N. (1996). The Quality of Primary Schools in Different Development Contexts, Paris: UNESCO/IIEP.
  • Goddard, V.D. and Leask, M. (1992). The Search for Quality, London: Paul Chapman Publishing.
  • Kogan,  M.  (1988).  Education  Accountability:  An  Analytical  Overview,  London: Hutchinson.
  • Richards, C.E. (1988). A Typology of Educational Monitoring Systems, Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis. 10(2), pp. 106-116.