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Philosophy Of Supervision

Decent Essays

Philosophy of Supervision

In education, a supervisor should strive to create a professional environment of

accountability and growth for staff and students alike. In short, a supervisor should work to

create a collegial school. Glickman describes a collegial school as follows: “Collegial school-

characterized by purposeful adult interactions about improving schoolwide teaching and

learning. Professional respect is a byproduct of discussing issues with candor, accepting

disagreements as integral to change, and respecting the wisdom and care of all for arriving at

educational decisions for students” (Glickman, 2013, p. 6). Each characteristic of a successful

administrator I’ve chosen goes hand in hand with creating a collegial …show more content…

The primary focus on

this evaluation should be student growth. Stronge echoes this message when he says, “If the

purpose of teaching is to nurture learning, then teachers should be assessed for their effectiveness

on the basis of what and how much students learn” (Stronge, 2012, p. 5). Additionally, he

encourages multiple measures of student progress and a general reliance on student growth as

opposed to post-assessments.

Additionally, as the supervisor of the entire school, the principal is charged with

evaluating the “big picture.” A school is truly a collaborative setting with numerous moving

parts that must function and improve as a single unit. Nolan says, “Do not ask teachers to

commit themselves to innovations per se; rather focus on the potential impact that the initiative

will have on their students” (Nolan, 2007, p. 5). In many cases, this leads to a course correction.

My first principal, Mrs. Taylor, demonstrated a good sense of this “big picture” evaluation . The

school has had a rapidly changing demographic over the last twenty years. The school …show more content…

Consequently, there

was an increase in school performance the following year. For me, this type of “big picture”

evaluation served as a lesson in supervision.

Consistency is of vital importance to a supervisor when it comes to evaluation. Gordon

touches on this idea of consistency when he states, “Successful supervision ensures that

evaluation policies and the goals and outcomes that are the basis for evaluation of teaching are

well defined, plainly articulated, and clearly communicated. Administrators and teachers are well

informed about these policies and goals” (Gordon, 2005, p. 144). In the classroom setting,

standards must be equitable across subject areas, grade levels, and experience levels. An example

of this idea at work is my district’s lesson plan initiative. Countywide, teachers are expected to

create lesson plans with clear learning goals, chunking, and evidence of differentiation. This

consistent approach creates a shared sense of accountability and teacher efficacy. On a smaller

scale, our supervisors continue to be consistent at the school level. Our plans are due weekly

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