PRACTICES AND CHALLENGES OF INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISION IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS OF WEST HARARGHE ZO

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to assess practices and challenges of instructional supervision in government secondary schools of West Hararghe Zone., Ethiopia. For this study, mixed research design was used; data were gathered through questionnaire and interviews. Of the total sample size, 89.5 teachers, 100% principals filled in and returned the questionnaire. Besides, 4 supervisors and 4 WEOSC were interviewed. 9 secondary schools and 105 teachers were selected by stratified random sampling technique. 4 WEOSC and 4 supervisors were selected purposively whereas 15 principals were sampled by simple random sampling technique. The data were analyzed using frequencies, percentage and mean value. Qualitative data were analyzed in narration of words. Some of the major findings was: instructional supervisors did not give professional support to teacher to improve instruction. The practice of instructional supervision in secondary schools indicated teachers have negative perception towards the usefulness of instructional supervision. The main challenges that existed in the implementation of instructional supervision, problem in selecting and assigning right persons as supervisors, lack of supervision manual, lack of budget, facilities and materials to run supervision, teachers’ resistance to supervision, workload and lack of training were listed. In conclusion, teachers gained insuf icient professional support from instructional supervisors in order to improve their instructional skills. Teachers’ negative perceptions towards the use of instructional supervision influenced the practice of instructional supervision. The drawbacks faced instructional supervision were excessive workloads of principals, lack of supervision manual in the school, lack of budget, facilities and materials to run supervision, teachers’ resistance and lack of training to instructional supervision. Based on the findings, it was recommended that supervisors need to give regular and adequate support to teachers on professional and curriculum development and it is better to focus on academic tasks by delegating administrative tasks to other personnel. Woreda education of ice is suggested to select and assign the right persons based on criteria. Zone education bureau and woreda education of ice are suggested to fulfill supervision manuals for instructional sup