Towards Quality Educational Outcomes: A Look at Public School District Supervisors’ Roles

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes

 (This is the follow up of the article entilted Towards Quality Educational Outcomes: Maximizing the Roles and Functions of Public School District Supervisors.  Click to read the previous article.)

What Should Supervisors Be Doing?

Apart from the information mentioned already with regards to the duties, roles and functions of district supervisors in the previous post, in the absence of local literatures that expound those informations, it would be better to have some insights from popular foreign literature available online.

William H. Burton (1922) gave an interesting insight on what supervisors should be doing.  These are improvement of the teaching act, improvement of teachers in service, testing and measuring and rating of teachers.

Burton’s listing has been viewed as “the first modern statement and concept” of supervision. This list looks surprisingly current when we examine the numerous tasks that today’s supervisors actually perform.

Writing a half century later, Harris enumerated ten tasks of supervision in the following rather detailed list:

     Task 1. Developing curriculum.
     Task 2. Organizing for instruction.
     Task 3. Providing staff.
     Task 4. Providing facilities.
     Task 5. Providing materials.
     Task 6. Arranging for in-service education.
     Task 7. Orienting staff members.
     Task 8. Relating special pupil services.
     Task 9. Developing public relations.
     Task 10. Evaluating instruction.

Harris classified tasks 1, 3, and 4 as preliminary; 6 and 10 as developmental; and the others as operational.  Those who view supervision as a one-to-one, clinical relationship between the teacher and supervisor would eliminate many of the tasks from both lists. Those who view supervision as a field distinct from administration would delegate administrative tasks like scheduling, staffing, and public relations to the administrator rather than to the instructional supervisor. 

Thus under R.A. 9155, administrative task are assigned to the school head and although the school head also have supervisory functions as one of their most important roles, supervisors are there  to assist and strengthen school supervisory practices.

Verma as quoted by De Leon (2010) points out that supervision exists for one reason, and that is to improve teaching and learning.  Verma further that supervision is a specialized service focused to bring qualitative improvement in education.  Good supervision is concerned to improve learning situations.

Karolyn J. Snyder on the other hand viewed the supervisor’s task in the following light: The primary supervisory task is to develop professional learning communities, in work teams, that not only acquire new knowledge and skills but also learn how to study and respond exceptionally well to their natural work and learning environments.  Snyder perceived “the new work of the supervisor” as “building the energy mass.

The supervisor plays a variety of roles within certain domains, and the expertise demonstrated in the particular domains is derived from a number of bases or foundations.  Edward Pajak headed a study on identification of supervisory proficiencies sponsored by the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

By reviewing the literature on supervision and surveying instructional leaders, Pajak affirmed twelve domains, with relevant knowledge, attitudes, and skills in each domain. These domains and their definitions are as follows:

• Community Relations—Establishing and maintaining open and productive relations between the school and its community;
• Staff Development—Developing and facilitating meaningful opportunities for professional growth;
• Planning and Change—Initiating and implementing collaboratively developed strategies for continuous improvement;
• Communication—Ensuring open and clear communication among individuals and groups through the organization;
• Curriculum—Coordinating and integrating the process of curriculum development and implementation;
• Instructional Program—Supporting and coordinating efforts to improve the instructional program;
• Service to Teachers—Providing materials, resources, and assistance to support teaching and learning;
• Observation and Conferencing—Providing feedback to teachers based on classroom observation;
• Problem Solving and Decision Making—Using a variety of strategies to clarify and analyze problems and to make decisions;
• Research and Program Evaluation—Encouraging experimentation and assessing outcomes;
• Motivating and Organizing—Helping people to develop a shared vision and achieve collective aims;
• Personal Development—Recognizing and reflecting upon one’s personal and professional beliefs, abilities, and action.

The role supervisors should play particularly in the Philippines is summarily defined already in the law but these lists give us the domains and indicators that could be drawn in clarifying their roles and functions.  

In the light of public service, service-oriented supervisor will perform at varying times each of the four roles which involves being a:

Coordinator. The supervisor serves as a coordinator of programs, groups, materials, and reports. It is the supervisor who acts as a link between programs and people, school heads and other stakeholders from all or different schools in his area. He or she knows the disparate pieces of the educational process and directs the actions of others to make the pieces blend. As a director of staff development, the supervisor plans, arranges, evaluates, and often conducts in-service programs with and for teachers.

Consultant.  The supervisor serves in a consulting capacity as a specialist in curriculum, instructional methodology, and staff development. In this capacity, he or she renders service to both individual teachers and groups. At times, the supervisor may simply furnish necessary information and suggestions. At other times, he or she may help teachers define, set, and pursue goals. The supervisor should be a prime source of assistance to teachers wishing to improve either their generic or specialized teaching skills. Though some will disagree with us, we believe the supervisor-consultant should be able to demonstrate a repertoire of teaching strategies.

Group Leader.  The supervisor as group leader works continuously to release the potential of groups seeking to improve the curriculum, instruction, or themselves. To perform this role the supervisor must be knowledgeable about group dynamics and must demonstrate leadership skills. The supervisor assists groups in consensus building, in moving toward group goals, and in perfecting the democratic process. As a group leader, the supervisor seeks, identifies, and fosters leadership from within the group.

Evaluator.  As an evaluator, the supervisor provides assistance to teachers in evaluating instruction and curriculum. The supervisor helps teachers find answers to curricular and instructional problems, identify research studies that may have a bearing on their problems, and conduct limited research projects. Additionally, the supervisor helps teachers evaluate their classroom performance, assess their own strengths and weaknesses, and select means of overcoming their deficiencies.

Other than these, Supervisors should possess (1) certain personal traits and (2) certain types of knowledge and skills.

Knowledge and Skills. Although personal traits of supervisors are not often discussed, we can find an abundance of statements about the knowledge and skills successful supervisors need. There is general agreement that supervisors should have:

• A sound general education program.
• A thorough preservice professional education program.
• A major field of study.
• A solid graduate program in supervision.
• Three to five years of successful teaching at the elementary, middle, or secondary school level.

In pre-service and in-service training programs, supervisors should develop a grounding in:

• Learning theory and educational psychology.
• Philosophy of education.
• History of education, especially of curriculum and instructional development.
• The role of the school in society.
• Curriculum development.
• Instructional design and methods.
• Group dynamics.
• Conferencing and counseling.
• Assessment of teacher performance.

Lovell and Wiles pointed to necessary knowledge and skills when they wrote that supervision is

• Releasing human potential
• Leadership
• Communications
• Coordinating and facilitating change
• Curriculum development
• Facilitating human development.

As a service-oriented agent for improvement, the supervisor must be imbued with the spirit counselors refer to as “the helping relationship,” the desire to give of oneself to be of assistance to others. Beyond this, the supervisor needs the kind of persuasiveness and infectious enthusiasm that inspires teachers to want to make changes for the better.

The supervisor should be an “idea person,” one who leads people to think about new and improved ways of doing things. He or she needs to convey the attitude of valuing and seeking the ideas of others while not appearing to have answers to all the problems teachers face. The supervisor who is a helper to teachers is able to effect a democratic environment in which the contributions of each participating member are valued. Above all, the supervisor needs to possess a predisposition to change and must constantly promote improvement.

If supervisors, whose chief responsibility is to bring about improvements, are satisfied with the status quo, they can be sure that the teachers will be, too. The supervisor must be able to live with change and help teachers adapt to the changing needs of society and of children and youth. To accomplish this mission, the supervisor should be able to work effectively in both one-to-one relationships and in groups.

to be concluded . . .

(Mr. Gilbert M. Forbes had his Bachelors Degree and MA in Educational Management (CAR) from the Philippine Normal University.  A campus paper adviser and trainer for 13 years.  Currently, he is a school principal in one of the central schools in the Division of Quezon.) 

Reference:

International Institute for Educational Planning (UNESCO):  Reforming School Supervision for Quality Improvement, Module 2; Roles and Functions of Supervisors at http://www.iiep.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Cap_Dev_Training/Training_Materials/Supervision/SUP_Mod2.pdf

Roles of the School Supervisor at http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/53/04711516/0471151653.pdf

Towards Quality Educational Outcomes: Maximizing the Role and Functions of Public School District Supervisors

By:  Gilbert M. Forbes
DepEd Quezon, CALABARZON

The state recognizes the significant role of district supervisors in our educational system that’s why instead of totally abolishing it, it was later clarified and defined upon the passage of R.A. 9155 in 2001 otherwise known as Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001.

In support of the provisions of the law, it was later explicitly defined under DECS Order No. 1, s. 2006 which constitutes the Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of the law.  Under this IRR Rule V, Section 5.2, PSDS were stripped of administrative supervision over school heads and instead focus it on instructional and curricular supervision aimed at raising academic standards at the school level.

Specific duties, functions and roles was reiterated in an article written by Dr. Ethel Agnes P. Valenzuela of SEAMEO INNOTECH entitled Decentralization of Education in the Philippines during the IIEP Workshop held in in Manila on July 12- 16,  2010 stressing that in consonance with the policy, purposes and objectives, and the principles enunciated in R.A. 9155 the school districts shall have the following authority, accountability and responsibility:

1.  Monitor, assess, supervise and evaluate the implementation of various curricula in basic education in both public and private schools/learning centers including early childhood education, special education and alternative learning system in the district or cluster thereof; 
2. Provideprofessional and instructional advice and support to the school heads and teachers/facilitators of public and private elementary and secondary schools and learning centers including early childhood education,special education and alternative learning system in the district or cluster thereof and
3. Perform such other related functions as maybe assigned by proper authorities.

The question if district supervisors have already completely separated themselves from their usual perceive roles as administrators over school principals could be seen in the way district offices are now ran and maintained, relationships that exists between district supervisors and school heads particularly in most of the central schools where their offices are located and maintained courtesy of the said sponsoring host schools, and most importantly how the curriculum is effectively implemented and monitored for quality learning outcomes in schools in their respective areas.

UNESCO’s International Institute for Educational Planning Module 2 on Roles and Functions of Supervisors states that supervisors (supervision staff) are expected to play three different yet complimentary roles which are quite evident in the job descriptions to wit:  to control and evaluate, to give support and advice, and to act as a liaison agent.

Control

The control function that relates to the original meaning of the word ‘inspection’ is at the heart of compliance monitoring.  So, it should not be mistaken as administrative supervision over other school personnel particularly school principals and school heads as in the case of the Philippines.

The control function covers pedagogical as well as administrative inputs and processes.  It is therefore necessary that district supervisors are well versed with the prescribed curriculum and are always updated with current pedagogical processes towards effective learning.  Having weak or none of these will not realize the very purpose of which their respective offices are created for. 

Support

Monitoring or control function without support will not easily lead to quality improvement.  These two dimensions should be and have been intimately linked.

Support takes the form of advice given to teachers and head teachers during supervision visits which cover both administrative and pedagogical issues.  Administrative issue may involve professional and instructional advice and support to the school heads while that of pedagogy relates to the inputs given to teachers to improve teaching learning processes.

Other modalities of support should also be considered e.g., individual tutoring, demonstration lessons, in-service training programmes and organization of peer learning.

Liaison

Because of the two previous functions, which include regular school visits, supervisors are also the main liaison agents between the top of the education system, where norms and rules are set, and the schools where education really takes place.  As expected of go-between agents, they have a double task:  to inform schools of decisions taken by the centre, and to inform the centre of the realities at the school level.

Their liaison role is, however, not only vertical:  increasingly, supervisors are entrusted with horizontal relations and have a privileged role to play in identifying and spreading new ideas and good practices between schools.  Particularly when ambitious reforms programmes are being launched, their role in disseminating the reform and ensuring smooth implementation at the school level becomes important.

A Closer Look at the Real Score

The roles and functions discussed above are still far from being fully practiced.  At present, school principals are seen and perceive to be the ones more practicing the job descriptions as embodied in R.A. 9155 while that of the district supervisors are perceive and seen as still limited more on administrative functions rather than supervisory.

Unlike school heads of even some bigger schools, their respective offices maintain staff usually full time teachers but given an ancillary function apart from teaching.  These staff are the ones preparing reports and all types of office and clerical works. 

Thus, more time is devoted or could be spent in providing professional and instructional advice and support to school heads and teachers/facilitators of schools and learning centers in the district, or cluster thereof; as well as curricula supervision viz instructional supervision.  This, contrary to popular beliefs, remains to be seen.

Proof of this is the dearth or lack of local literature and studies which delves on the roles and functions of district supervisors in the country and how they contribute fully towards quality learning outcomes in our schools apart from school heads.

Given the fact that most of these district supervisors rose from the ranks and probably are among the cream of the crop from among the school heads prior to their promotion to that position, the contribution they would make towards the realization of education reforms and raising educational outcomes is enormous.

This could be realized if like the ordinary teachers and school heads, they shall be held accountable for the performance of their respective districts, their job descriptions clarified and their performance fully assessed based on their competencies as supported by credible educational outcomes, basic education indicators, and other related evidences.

If this is realized, they will instantaneously get the respect and admiration of their common critics down the line of the educational arena.


What Should Have Been Done?

Governance of Basic Education Act of 2001 (R.A. 9155) and DECS Order No. 1, s. 2006 which laid down the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the law is clear on the specific roles and functions that public school district supervisors should and are expected to perform.

These are providing professional and instructional advice and support to the school heads and teachers/facilitators of schools and learning centers in the district or cluster thereof; and Curricula supervision which could have been done well if their job descriptions are clearly established like their school counterparts, the school heads through the School-Based Management Framework.

While generally, their responsibility and function is clearly stated in both the IRR and law, unified framework that outlines how these general functions could be well performed, monitored, and assessed against given competency-based performance assessment tools seems to be lacking or non at all.

District Supervisors though few are well-organized, very vocal and could be considered politically strong as a lobby group as compared to school heads in each division, but this should not prevent the central office, regional or even division offices to clarify their roles and held them responsible and accountable parallel to other personnel of the department.

With their rich experiences as former school heads and education, they could pretty well do an excellent job in doing their part towards attaining quality educational outcomes.

continuation . . . . click here to continue reading the second part

References:

Basic Education Act of 2001 (R.A. 9155)

DepEd Order No. 1, s. 2006 otherwise known as the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Basic Education Act of 2011, R.A. 9155

Supreme Court En Banc Decision on PSDS vz DECS and DBM June 16, 2006 at http://sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2006/june2006/G.R.%20No.%20157286.htm

International Institute for Educational Planning (UNESCO):  Reforming School Supervision for Quality Improvement, Module 2; Roles and Functions of Supervisors at http://www.iiep.unesco.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Cap_Dev_Training/Training_Materials/Supervision/SUP_Mod2.pdf

Roles of the School Supervisor at http://media.wiley.com/product_data/excerpt/53/04711516/0471151653.pdf

Decentralization of Education in the Philippines, Dr. Ethel Agnes P. Valenzuela of SEAMEO INNOTECH, IIEP Workshop, July 12- 16,  2010, Manila Philippines

(Mr. Gilbert M. Forbes had his Bachelors Degree and MA in Educational Management (CAR) from the Philippine Normal University- Southern Luzon and Manila Campus.  A former multi-grade teacher, campus paper adviser and trainer for 13 years, NEAP Trained Facilitator for K to 12 etc.  Currently, he is a school principal in one of the central schools in the Division of Quezon.)