The main purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed-methods study is to examine the current practices of developmental supervision in Saudi Arabia. This study focused on the three approaches of developmental supervision which are, directive informational approach, collaborative approach, and nondirective approach. The data were collected through a self-administered web-based survey on a 4-point Likert scale and subsequent semi-structured interviews. The sample contains male and female teachers from Makkah schools who have different levels of education and teaching experiences. A t-test and a one-way ANOVA were used to compare the participants’ responses. Coding method was used to analyze the qualitative data. The findings indicated that elementary school teachers in Saudi Arabia perceived their supervisors’ practice of developmental approaches to supervision as follows. Supervisors sometimes practiced the directive and collaborative approaches but rarely practiced the nondirective approach. Moreover, gender and years of teaching experience had no impact on participants’ responses regarding the three approaches to developmental supervision. Level of education also had no impact on their responses regarding the directive approach but did appear to affect responses about the collaborative and nondirective approaches. In qualitative phase, the themes were organized within the three approaches under study. The qualitative findings supported the quantitative results, which indicated that the most common supervisory practice has a directive nature. Recommendations were made for future research and for policymakers to establish an appropriate climate to effectively implement developmental supervision or other contemporary approaches to supervision.

Clinical education is a key element of graduate school training in the field of speech-language pathology. Graduate students are required to obtain 375 supervised clinical practice hours in order to earn their provisional license and begin their career. Supervision of clinical hours is most often provided by experienced speech-language pathologists with minimal, if any, training in effective supervision practices. Within the field of speech-language pathology, Anderson’s Continuum of Supervision (Anderson, 1988) is the most widely accepted model and provides a structure and sequence for supervisors to follow in order to facilitate the clinical development of their student clinician. Anderson’s model suggests that the collaborative supervision style should be used to transition student clinicians from directive supervision (where they are reliant on the supervisor for direction) to self-supervision, which represents independence. Despite this, and because of a lack of evidenced-based methods and a lack of training opportunities, many supervisors have difficulty implementing the collaborative supervision style. This study examines the effectiveness of an external tool, the Clinician’s Hierarchy for Advancing Treatment (CHAT) (Duthie, 2008), in helping supervisors to implement the collaborative supervision style. This is an exploratory quantitative, quasi-experimental non-equivalent groups study. Students and supervisors were surveyed about their perceptions of the supervisory process following their participation in a semester-long clinical practicum in a university speech-language pathology clinic. Prior to working with a second cohort of students, the supervisor group was trained on the CHAT. This method features a chart which objectively defines levels of client performance and corresponding levels of clinical supports needed for the client to advance in treatment. Supervisors were trained to use this tool to guide student clinicians in the clinical decision-making processes. Implementation of the CHAT occurred across the following semester in the same university clinic with a new group of student clinicians. Supervisors and students were again surveyed at the end of the semester on their experience of the supervisory process to determine if the perception of collaborative supervision had increased with the implementation of the CHAT. The Supervisory Relationship Measure (Pearce et al., 2013) and the Supervisory Relationship Questionnaire (Palomo et al., 2010) were used to survey the student clinicians and supervisors, respectively. Independent-samples, one-tailed t-tests were conducted to determine if there was a significant increase in the perception of collaborative supervision. These analyses were conducted using the Safe Base Subscale score from the surveys, of which items focus on the interactions and relationship between the supervisor and the student clinician as they relate to collaboration. Analysis resulted in insufficient evidence to suggest an increase in the perception of collaborative supervision from the first semester (without CHAT) to the second semester when CHAT was implemented. Additional analyses were also conducted on items that were considered particularly salient to collaborative supervision. Results of item-level analyses were marginally significant for two items from the supervisor surveys, both of which queried the supervisor’s perception of the student’s level of openness and honesty in supervisory conferences. These findings suggest that using an external tool such as the CHAT, may result in student clinicians being more open and honest about their experience of the clinical process in the supervisory conference. It is argued that the objectivity of the external tool prompts more objective conversation between the supervisor and student clinician. The increase in objective conversation, in turn, decreases the judgment and evaluation that students often associate with supervision, thereby creating a safer environment in which to voice their honest reflections.

This study had two major purposes: (a) to investigate and compare the perceptions of principals and teachers towards instructional supervision in Zimbabwe, and (b) to attempt to come up with a framework that would improve the effectiveness of instructional supervision in Zimbabwean schools. The study highlights the impact of political, cultural and social realities on instructional supervision in developing countries (including Zimbabwe) from which any theories of effective instructional supervision must derive. The phenomenon of instructional supervision and its related concepts is explored and analysed. The approach and methods used in the study are discussed and finally, the thesis provides a suggested framework for effective instructional supervision in Zimbabwean primary schools which concerns perceptual data which were obtained from 176 principals and 572 teachers drawn from three of Zimbabwe's ten provinces. Factor analysis of the existing situation in Zimbabwe's primary schools produced five major variables that were perceived to be associated with instructional supervision in Zimbabwean primary schools: Lack of a clear vision about what should constitute effective instructional supervision; instructional supervision models that do not promote the professional growth of teachers; ineffective leadership styles; internal and external overloads that significantly interfere with the principal's instructional supervision program; and inadequate principal capacity building for effective instructional leadership. This percetual data, subsequently crystallized into the following suggested instructional supervision initiatives: Utilization of instructional supervision models that encourage interaction between the principal and the teacher as opposed to using models that promote fault-finding or principal dominance during the instructional supervision process; establishment of a school climate that is conducive to effective instructional supervision; establishment of a staff development program that promotes effective instruction; establishment of government policies that reduce interference with the instructional supervision programs of principals; and establishment of mechanisms for building skills for principals so that they can effectively conduct instructional supervision / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Education Management)

This study had two major purposes: (a) to investigate and compare the perceptions of principals and teachers towards instructional supervision in Zimbabwe, and (b) to attempt to come up with a framework that would improve the effectiveness of instructional supervision in Zimbabwean schools. The study highlights the impact of political, cultural and social realities on instructional supervision in developing countries (including Zimbabwe) from which any theories of effective instructional supervision must derive. The phenomenon of instructional supervision and its related concepts is explored and analysed. The approach and methods used in the study are discussed and finally, the thesis provides a suggested framework for effective instructional supervision in Zimbabwean primary schools which concerns perceptual data which were obtained from 176 principals and 572 teachers drawn from three of Zimbabwe's ten provinces. Factor analysis of the existing situation in Zimbabwe's primary schools produced five major variables that were perceived to be associated with instructional supervision in Zimbabwean primary schools: Lack of a clear vision about what should constitute effective instructional supervision; instructional supervision models that do not promote the professional growth of teachers; ineffective leadership styles; internal and external overloads that significantly interfere with the principal's instructional supervision program; and inadequate principal capacity building for effective instructional leadership. This percetual data, subsequently crystallized into the following suggested instructional supervision initiatives: Utilization of instructional supervision models that encourage interaction between the principal and the teacher as opposed to using models that promote fault-finding or principal dominance during the instructional supervision process; establishment of a school climate that is conducive to effective instructional supervision; establishment of a staff development program that promotes effective instruction; establishment of government policies that reduce interference with the instructional supervision programs of principals; and establishment of mechanisms for building skills for principals so that they can effectively conduct instructional supervision / Educational Studies / D. Ed. (Education Management)