| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study is to analyze the teacher's perception of primary school headteachers' supervisory duties.
The supervisory practices selected for the study are supervisory practices: decision-making, communication practices, delegation and school administration structure. Headteachers' effective supervisory practices are very essential if educational goals and objectives are to be realized. Primary school education forms the foundation from which all other levels of education are build. It is important to ensure that the supervisory skills of primary school headteachers will successfully assist them accomplish the highly responsible task they are called upon to perform. It is believed that the success of internal organization and functioning of a school is primarily determined by headteachers' effectiveness in the school management and teachers' perception of what is desirable.
However, this is not so because from previous research and experience, it is evident that headteachers are still ineffective in carrying out certain supervisory and management practices.
The study sought to fulfill seven objectives namely:-
1. To determine teachers' perception of primary school headteachers' supervisory duties.
2.To find out whether there is any significant difference teachers' sex and their perception of headteachers management practices.
3.To establish whether there is any significant difference between teachers' age and their perception of headteachers supervisory practices.
4.To establish whether there is any significant difference between teachers' academic qualifications and their perception of head teachers' supervisory duties.
5.To establish whether there is any significant difference between teachers teaching experiences and their perception of head teachers' supervisory duties.
6.To establish whether there is any significant difference between student population and teachers perception of the headteachers' supervisory duties.
7.To find out whether there is any significant differences between school geographical location and teachers' perception of head teachers' supervisory duties.
To realize these objectives a questionnaire was constructed seeking to find out information that would be used to fulfill the objectives. The research questions
were :-
(i) Do the teachers have perceptions on the primary school headteachers'
supervisory duties?
(ii) Does the sex of the teachers have an effect on the way they perceive the headteachers' supervisory duties?
(iii) Does the age of the teachers have an effect on the way they perceive the headteachers' supervisory duties?
(iv) Does the professional grade of the teachers have an effect on the way they perceive the headteachers' supervisory duties?
(v) Does the teaching experience of the teachers have an effect on the way they perceive the headteachers' supervisory duties?
(vi) Does the size of the school influence the teachers perceptions of Headteachers' supervisory practices?
(vii) Does the location of the school have an influence on the teachers perceptions on the supervisory practices of the headteachers?
The study was designed as a survey research. Pilot study was carried out to
establish the validity and reliability of the research instrument. This involved
administering the questionnaires to 10 randomly selected primary school
teachers.
Results revealed that the instruments were valid and were reliable. Systematic
random sampling method was used to select a sample size of 180 from a
population of 340. The sampling was done as per the recommendations by
(Kathuri. 1993). The researcher relayed the questionnaires to the respondent
who were left to fill and then collected later by the researcher. Some were
posted to the schools.
Based on the study data, the following were key findings of the study. Majority
of headteachers were very effective in leadership and communication as
supervisory practice skills. Headteachers were fairly effective in delegation and
supervision.
Majority of teachers had a favourable attitude towards headteachers supervisory
practices. The teachers' age had a positive but non-significant influence on their
perception. This means that teachers' attitude is influenced by their age at non-
significant level. The teachers' highest profession qualification did not influence
their attitude towards the headteachers' management/supervisory practices. The
teachers' teaching experience had a negative but non-significant perception
towards the headteachers' supervisory practices.
The mam problems encountered by the headteachers in school supervisron
practices identified from the study include: the increasing responsibility of
headteachers, lack of community support, over enrollment of pupils. Lack of
stability in educational programmes as a result of frequent changes in policies
and also curriculum renovations were mentioned as major problems. They also
identified poor remuneration for headteachers by the government.
Drawing from its findings, this study suggested the following recommendations.
Headteachers should be trained further on how to implement and supervise
curriculum and instruction. Headteachers should receive training to help them
identify the key areas of educational delegations, ways of communication and
decision making. Headteachers need to be aware of the prevailing attitude of the
teachers towards their practices so that he can be able to influence the teachers
positively as this will lead to improvement of teaching and learning. The government should provide adequate facilities and finances for the growing population of schools. Headteachers should seek to develop and maintain open communication with the teachers. Where possible headteachers should delegate their duties to the deputy headteachers and the senior teachers so as to ease their workload. To motivate them to do their work better there should be a different scheme of service for them. The Ministry of Education targeting the school headteacher should organize frequent workshops, and seminars under refresher courses on school supervision. Any changes in education policy or education curriculum should be done collectively to avoid its adverse effects of sudden change in the school system.
In summary, the headteachers require more training and in-service course on how to effectively carry out the supervisory practices. There is also need to explain concept of supervision and further clarify the role of the headteachers as this will help improve the perception of teachers towards the supervisory practices and create an environment of mutual trust between themselves and the teachers.
In addition to the above the researcher suggests that a study be carried out in
another place to establish its ability for generalization to all primary school
headteachers III the country and also to find out whether headteachers
effectiveness
influence
teachers'
perception
towards
school
management/supervision. | en |
