Instructional supervisory practices of Zimbabwean school principals

Abstract

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