EFFECTS OF EDUCATIONAL SUPERVISION ON PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT: PERCEPTION OF PUBLIC BASIC SCHOOL TEACHERS AT WINNEBA, GHANA

Abstract

Educational supervision is very vital in the professional development of teachers. The study therefore aims at investigating the perception of public basic school teachers at Winneba, Ghana, on educational supervision in relation to their professional development. In all, 106 teachers of the public basic schools in Winneba who had spent at least a year at their respective schools were randomly selected and used for the study. The questionnaire was used to collect the data. One key finding from the study is that generally, majority of the teachers perceived educational supervision as having a positive impact on their professional development in terms of developing experience; curriculum, teaching methods and materials; classroom management; characteristics of pupils; and assessment. They also perceive educational supervision as helping to identify the needs of teachers and accordingly, plans professional development activities. Another finding is that educational supervisors highlight the strengths of teachers’ performance and encourage them to reflect on their challenges through which solutions are found to overcome them. More so, there is no significant difference in the views of male and female teachers of public basic schools at Winneba, in terms of developing their experiences, classroom management, characteristics of the pupils they teach, and assessment techniques. However, there is a significant difference in their responses in terms of curriculum, teaching methods and materials. The study, therefore, recommends that frequent and effective professional development activities should be organized by educational supervisors to enable teachers identify and develop their strengths, and address their weaknesses. Also, educational supervisors should not be interested in finding faults of teachers but more importantly, dialogue with teachers to identify their strengths and weaknesses in order to improve on their professional knowledge, skills and experiences.