| dc.description.abstract | The purpose of this study was to "Determine the Effectiveness of Supervision in Selected Secondary Schools in Kiambu District, Central Province, Kenya." It was the researcher's conviction that this study could help in rectifying some of the deficiencies and trigger recommendations for necessary improvements towards more effective supervision. A total of 8 secondary schools from 3 divisions (Kiambu, Kikuyu and Thika) in Kiambu district were randomly selected. In each school the head teacher and 5 teachers (randomly selected) were requested to respond to relevant questionnaire items. The head teachers were requested to collect and keep all the completed questionnaires to be collected by the researcher on the agreed date. The completed questionnaires were then analysed. Frequency and percentage distributions were worked out and appropriate tabulations done. The research findings showed that 90.5 per cent of the teachers who took part in this study were professionally trained graduates. A majority of the teachers (83.3 percent) looked at the supervisor/inspector as an autocratic person who determined what teachers should teach, made sure that the teachers actually taught what they were supposed to teach and rewarded or penalized the teachers in accordance with their performance. All the responding teachers indicated that the inspectorate did not seem to play its supervisory roles effectively. 40 percent of the teachers indicated that they had neither benefited from supervision by the inspectors or the head teachers. All the 8 head teachers in this study were graduates, with 7 (87.5 percent) of them professionally trained. The research findings showed that 2 schools out of the 8 schools in this study had not been inspected at all since they were founded. It was also found that some of the schools were last inspected as many as 17 years ago. The research findings showed that the inspectors neither held demonstration classes nor informed the teachers about these visits. It was also evident that the inspectors performed other activities, which were neither instructional nor curricular in nature during their visits to schools. The research findings further showed that the inspectors neither held demonstration classes nor informed the teachers about these visits. It was also evident that the inspectors performed other activities, which were neither instructional nor curricular in nature during their visits to schools. The research findings further showed that the head teachers tended to perform administrative supervisory activities more frequently than, say, the curricular supervisory duties. The Kenya Education Staff Institute (K.E.S.I.) and the Kenya Secondary School Heads Association were the only two bodies that seemed to organise some form of in-service courses and conduct seminars for the secondary school head teachers. It was recommended that the supervisors/inspectors should be well trained in the techniques of supervision and, if possible, be encouraged to work for higher specialized courses or degrees in supervision. It was also recommended that inspectoral and supervisory duties be conceptually separated to afford the inspectors and supervisors enough time and insight into effective performance of these duties. The two duties, however, need not be performed by different individuals. It was further recommended that the head teachers undergo thorough training in educational administration and be constantly in-serviced to keep them abreast of the emerging supervisory techniques. It was recommended as well, that the relevant educational bodies, among which are the Kenya Education Staff Institute (K.E.S.I.), the Universities, the Kenya National Union of Teachers (K.N.U.T.) work jointly to provide both the personnel and funds required for launching effective supervisory programmes. It was suggested that further more elaborate research study be conducted to look into the nature of the pre-service training that the new inspectors undergo; the way classroom visitations and post-observation feedback are conducted; the nature of in-service courses that the secondary school head teachers are offered at the Kenya Education Staff Institute; and, finally the kind of improvements that the inspected/supervised teachers make after such supervisory visits. | en |
