SCHOOL SUPERVISION AND TEACHERS’ PRODUCTIVITY IN UYO LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 The Background of the Study
The Nigerian school system is increasingly challenged with many complex problems. There is a general outcry that the standards of education are falling and morals flagging. Some blame pupils for this apparent decline in quality of education and moral values. A thoughtful few think that they are due to the nature of changes in all directions. Majority blame the teachers for the woes in our schools. They are not as devoted and dedicated to the cause of education as their predecessors. Teachers as a group blame parents and the children. They also blame government for unattractive conditions of service and poor physical facilities in some parts of the educational system. This research project intends not to put the blame on the educational policy or on the system. The researcher does not even think that the children, the parents, the teachers and the poor educational facilities are responsible for the declining of the quality of education in the country. What the researcher is saying is that the whole blame is on the lack of adequate educational supervision in our educational system especially at the Primary/Secondary school levels.
School Supervision And Teachers’ Productivity
Besides the educational supervision factor, the researcher sees corruption or lack of integrity on the part of some education stake holders as another major factor responsible for the declining quality of education in the country. Two facts concerning education in the country are very evident. These facts are: Only very few are aware of the value/importance of education in the nation’s development and only very few are aware of the real magnitude of the declining nature of the quality of education in the country with special reference to selected schools in Uyo Local Government Area. Education is the bedrock of any nation’s development. It gives men the tool to navigate their way through the world. What joy parents experience to see their children acquire qualitative education.
As stated in the Nigeria National Policy on Education, there are educational goals, aims and objectives that must be achieved. It is pertinent on educational administrators to observe, monitor and oversee what the classroom teachers are doing in order to ensure the achievement of the set goals, aims and objectives as written in the National Policy on Education. Eregie and Ogiamen (2007) defined educational ‘supervision’ as the systematic application of principles of supervision in solving educational problems in order to get to a sustainable level of achievement. On the other hand, school supervision according to Eregie and Ogiamen (2007) is defined as a whole mechanism systematically designed to accomplish the end of public education so that internal structure of the school is determined by the functions which are carried on towards those ends. This cuts across supervision of personnel, structures, equipment, laboratories, library, records and other school facilities to ascertain problems and defects and then recommend a satisfactory result for the school system.
Based on the importance attached to school supervision and improvement in teaching learning activities, the Federal Government of Nigeria in National Policy on Education (2004) states that: Government will continue to run good and well-staffed inspectorate services for all levels of education, State ministries of education in collaboration with the Federal inspectorate will be responsible for the inspection of all secondary schools under their jurisdiction, regular courses will continue to be run to acquaint inspectors with their new roles as advisers, guides, catalysts and sources of new ideas, introduction and orientation courses will continue to be organized for newly appointed inspectors of secondary schools, government will expand and strengthen the Federal inspectorate service to supplement state inspe-ctorate services.
As put by Eye, Netzer and Krey (1971, in Akpan, 2003) described as that phase of school administration, which focuses primarily upon the achievement of appropriate instructional expectations of educational system. Akpan, added that supervision is a way of advising, guiding, refreshing, encouraging, stimulating, improving and overseeing certain groups with the hope of seeking their co-operation in order for the supervisors to be successful in their tasks of supervision. According to Zepeda (2006) cited in Opinmi GD (2011), to develop professionally and successfully too, teachers need many learning opportunities including reflection, dialogue and collaboration, particularly among their peers and with their internal supervisors. Effective school supervision provides relevant and continuous supports and encouragement in order to improve teachers’ instructional practices. Bernard and Goodyear (2008: 1) said
“supervision is an intervention that is provided by a senior member of a professionto a junior member or members of that same profession. This relationship is evaluative, extends over time, and has the simultaneous purposes of enhancing the professional functioning of the junior member(s), monitoring the quality of professional services offered to the clients she, he, or they see(s), and serving as a gatekeeper of those who are to enter the particular profession”.
Thus, the place of supervision as a very vital managerial tool cannot therefore be undermined in the education setting. If the exercise is carried out effectively, the productivity of the teachers is expected to increase at a very positive rate. As put by Peretomode (1998), effective schools supervision should be geared towards the improvement of the teaching/learning situations for the benefits of both the teachers and the learners. Also, supervision has always been regarded as an essential and integral part of school administration and basically geared towards the improvement of all factors in teaching and learning. This being the case, supervisors assist in improving classroom instructions because teachers are made more competent and efficient, parent are satisfied with the performance of their children, children are motivated to work harder in order to achieve the required standard, hence in the long run, the goal of education is achieved.
In an academic institution and in Secondary School in particular, Peretomode (1998), and Nkang (2002) admitted that supervision of classroom teachers in Secondary Schools should be undertaken by the Principals, Vice-Principals and Heads of Department on one hand, (internal supervisors), and the staff of the supervisory and inspectorate division of the State or Federal Ministry of Education, including superintendent of schools, education secretaries staff so designated in the State Education Board, Zonal Supervisors or Assistant on the other hand (external supervisors). These supervisors are expected to oversee and direct the activities of teaching and non-teaching personnel towards the realization of the objectives and goals, and act if necessary to correct any anomaly from the stipulated standard. Nkang (2002) opined that without thorough supervision even the best of programmes set out in a well-structured establishment couldn’t be effectively executed.
The success of teaching and learning of depend on effective schools supervision of teachers and the students. The mode of supervision could take the form of traditional supervision, classroom visitation, conference supervision, workshop supervision and collegial supervision, etc. School Supervision And Teachers’ Productivity.
This study attempted to investigate whether effective use of traditional supervision, classroom visitation, and conference supervision enhance teacher productivity in Senior Secondary Schools in Uyo Local Government Area in Akwa Ibom State. The study became feasible because of inherent poor attitude of teachers, poor students performance on subjects in both internal and external examinations, students poor enrolments on the course over the years and poor students background with regards to their performance in tertiary institutions, where they undertake advanced courses in the profession. These shortcomings could be traced to inattention given to school supervision, which this research work thrive to address curtly.
School Supervision And Teachers’ Productivity
1.2 Statement of the Problem
This research is triggered due to lots of deficiencies and general falling of standard in our educational system. Owing to inability to decide the nature and content of the curriculum, inefficient school organizational patterns an materials that will enhance educational growth, poor teacher effectiveness, lack of effective classroom management, low guide for staff development and appropriate rewarding system and lastly deficient standard in determining special abilities possessed by teachers and deciding who to be transferred, retained, promoted or disengaged. The basic skills needed in different courses are hardly acquired by student at secondary school. It is as a result of these problems that this research seeks to address.
Originally posted on May 18, 2021 @ 1:55 pm