Supervision of Instruction for Quality Assurance in Effective Teaching of Mathematics Among Secondary School Teachers in Niger State (Published)
The objective of the study is to examine the roles of instructional supervision for quality assurance in effective teaching of mathematics among secondary schools in Niger state, Nigeria. Descriptive survey was employed as the research design for the study and questionnaire containing closed and open-ended questions was the instrument for data collection. Sample of the study comprised 103 teachers from the three senatorial zone of the state. The designed questionnaire items were validated by three lecturers from the Mathematics, Integrated science and Guidance and Counselling departments, Federal College of Education Kontagora, Niger State. To test the reliability of the items, a split-half method was adopted. Cronbach alpha-20 (a20) was employed to estimate the reliability coefficient of the Likert’s scale test items and was found to be 0.73. Data collected was analyzed using percentages (%) and means statistics to answer the research questions. The finding of the study revealed that supervision of instruction ensures effective implementation of the mathematics curriculum and its alignment with national educational standards. Also, the study revealed that supervision of instruction improves relationship between supervisor and supervisees among others. It is therefore recommended that teachers should see instructional supervision as an agent of professional development and not witch-hunting. Supervisors are enjoined to actively involve teachers in the planning and execution of curriculum development and supervision.
Keywords: Instruction, Niger state, Quality Assurance, Supervision, effective teaching., mathematics secondary school teachers
Empirical Analyses on Tutors and Mentees Perception of the Effectiveness of Out-Segment Supervision of Colleges of Education in the Ashanti Region, Ghana (Published)
This study explored the effectiveness of Out-segment supervision of the In-In-Out programme in Colleges of Education in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. It was a descriptive survey that used 207 link tutors and 334 mentees with a semi-structured questionnaire as primary data collection instrument. Data were analysed using Kruskal Wallis ANOVA and One-sample t-test. The study revealed that the Out-segment supervision was being carried out effectively despite some challenges that needed to be addressed. Specifically, some of the findings are that generally, most of the activities under the pre-observation conference were rated unsatisfactory by both respondents. However, for the observation activities, the findings revealed that mentees and link tutors in St Louis, Offinso and Akrokerri confirmed that they were effectively conducted in their schools. It was recommended that areas where the evaluation indicated unsatisfactory performance, management of those colleges should do well to address those challenges.
Keywords: Ghana, Link Tutor, Mentee, Observation, Out-segment, Supervision
Out-Segment Supervision in Colleges of Education in Ghana: Barriers and Way Forward (Published)
The purpose of this descriptive survey was to assess and analyse the challenges and suggestions for improving the Out- segment supervision of colleges of education in the Ashanti region of Ghana. The study used 207 link tutors and 334 mentees with a semi-structured questionnaire as primary data collection instrument. Results of the items were analysed using content analysis approach. The study revealed that the Out-segment supervision was being carried out effectively however, there were some challenges that needed to be addressed. Generally, some of the findings were poor vetting of teaching notes, inadequate teaching and learning materials, lack of transportation from college to schools of practice, inadequate advanced preparation by mentees before teaching, poor remuneration, supervisors not arriving on time at mentees’ schools of practice. Management of colleges of education are advised to address these perennial problems until they are no longer teething challenges in the supervision of Out-segment programme.
Keywords: Link Tutors, Mentees, Out-segment, Supervision, Teacher Education
Principal’s Management Support Practices for Enhancing Teachers’ Performance in Secondary Schools in Nigeria (Published)
This paper investigated principal’s management support practices for enhancing teachers’ performance in schools in Nigeria. The study adopted the survey research design, the population totaled 5,083 principals and teachers with a sample of 1803 selected using proportionate random sampling techniques. Two sets of questionnaire “Principals’ Management Support Practice for principals and teachers were instruments used for data collection. Four research questions were answered using mean score statistics while the hypotheses were tested at 0.05 alpha level using z-test. The result showed that school principals lacked supervisory skills and as a result entrusted academic supervision in the hands of external supervisors. Most principals’ feel reluctant to endorse in-service training for their teachers and teachers in turn hid their pursuit for higher degree from principals for fear of victimization. The result on motivation and welfare of teachers showed no significant difference in the mean ratings of both the principals and teachers.
Keywords: Management Support Practices, Motivation and Performance., Professional Growth, Supervision, Welfare
Is Teaching Practice for Grading or Improvement? Examining Student teachers’ Perception and Experience at the University of Dar es salaam, Tanzania (Review Completed - Accepted)
Teaching practice is the central activity in testing teaching skills gathered in classroom learning and in preparing professional teachers in any country. The current study investigated student teachers perception and experience on the teaching practice supervisor’s treatment, student supervisor pre or post classroom discussion and teaching practice processes in general. The data to inform the study were collected from 112 student teachers: 67 were males and 45 females and the tools used were questionnaires both structured and non-structured. Of these 52 were second years while 60 were third years. Majority of respondents about 95(84.8) were pre service and 17 (15.2%) were in-service. The findings revealed that student teachers had positive perception on teaching practice exercise, teaching practice supervisor’s treatment, and supervisor-student feedback provision style. It was also discovered that demographic variables such as: sex, year of study and professional background had a slight influence on student teachers perception on teaching practice exercise, supervisors treatment, and supervisor-student feedback styles. In line to that 42 (37.5%) student-teachers’ acknowledged the concept that teaching practice is for improvement and the remaining percentages were given to factors associated to opposite dimension. It was therefore concluded that, there is a need for strengthening the teaching practice supervision exercise and specifically the collaboration between university teaching practice office and the teaching practice-host institutions should be improved so as to minimize the challenges emanating from miscommunication during the teaching practice exercise
Keywords: : Teaching practice, Assessment, Feedback, Perception, Supervision