Supervision and Inspection
Meaning, Need and Importance of Supervision and Inspection
Meaning of Supervision and Inspection
In supervision, the word “super” means over & above (superior) and “vision” means view. The literal meaning of supervision is overseeing the activities of subordinates or team members.
Supervision is the act of instructing, guiding, monitoring and observing the activities of employees while they are performing their assigned tasks.
According to Morris Viteles,” Supervision ensures immediate guidance and control of subordinates in the performance of their jobs.” Supervision involves directing and the job of subordinates.
Whiles says, “Supervision consists of all the activities leading to the improvement of instruction, activities related to morale, improving human relations, in service education and curriculum development.”
In the modern educational system, the term supervision has got a very significant position from the point of view of the role played by it. Due to the enhancement of its importance in the present educational system, its prime purpose has been changed now. Researchers and Educationists previously agreed upon the fact that supervision is primarily concerned with the purpose of improving instruction.
Need of Supervision and Inspection
In the modern education system, the expansion of education depends on an increasing number of educational institutions, teachers and students, and the provision of all kinds of facilities that are essential for the proper advancement of education. It will never be enough if we do not deliver or achieve our returns or results on a qualitatively reasonable scale. It is clear from this description that the quality assurance of education at all levels is the main concern of modern educational practice. This requires a quantitative expansion and a qualitative improvement in education at all levels. This is determined by the very concept of supervision. A teacher may see this as a threat to himself personally.
Another teacher may see it as a source of help and support, while the supervisor sees it as a positive force for improving the program.
The dictionary of education defines supervision as “all efforts of designed schools towards providing leadership to teachers and other educational workers in the improvement of instruction”.
The word “supervision” means to guide and stimulate the activities of teachers with a view to improve them, i.e., teaching as well as instruction and promoting professional growth.
According to Adams and Dickey, “Supervision is a planned programme for the improvement.” It exists in their opinion for one reason only to improve teaching and learning. So it is mainly concerned with the “development of teachers and pupils.”
Importance of Supervision and Inspection
Supervision plays a key role in promoting quality education. It is an essential factor for the healthy development of the educational system. The improvement of the teaching act (classroom visits, individual and group conferences, demonstration teaching, development of standards for self-improvement, etc.), the improvement of the teacher in-service (teachers’ meetings, professional readings, bibliographies and reviews, bulletins, inter visitation, self-analysis and criticism)
, the selection and organization of subject matter (setting up objectives, studies of subject matter, and learning activities, experimental testing of materials, etc.), testing and the rating of teachers (the development and use of rating cards of checklists, stimulation of self-rating). No doubt the aim of supervision is the improvement of teaching but this can be facilitated through the development of the teacher, the growth of the pupil and the improvement of the teaching-learning process as a whole.
It became clear that oversight should be democratic through and through, which requires constant effort from the inspecting officials. They must coordinate, and guide, the continuous growth of the teacher in a school, both individually and collectively, to achieve a better understanding and more effective implementation of all classroom activities. As a result, teachers can be better able to stimulate and guide each student’s continued growth toward the most intelligent participation in a modern democratic society. This new concept is based on the belief that inspection and supervision is a collaborative enterprise in which both teachers and inspectors must actively participate.
An inspection is a task or assessment of troubleshooting and fact-finding in many work environments. For example, in the education system, an inspectorate system may be put in place to carry out inspectorate duties and responsibilities. The various types of inspections required for secondary schools, such as full inspection, follow-up inspection, pre-opening school inspection, inspection for teacher promotions, subject inspections, etc. are rarely carried out.
The role of the system would be to continually assess the standard and quality of education provided to learners. It will examine, among other things, how teachers deliver education and how the goals of the national department are being met.
In the education system, department heads or principals can act as supervisors of the teaching team to ensure that they teach continuously. An inspection team can find errors and facts in supervisors to prove that they are properly performing their supervisory duties and responsibilities. A manager can assign a task to a subordinate and later check that the task has been completed. This shows some overlap, albeit minor, between inspection and surveillance. However, supervision is generally continuous and supervisors are therefore present daily to ensure that tasks are carried out according to instructions.
Oversight can be hierarchical in any organization, from immediate supervisors to senior management. The roles and responsibilities of managers are essentially the same in all organizations. Other organizations may include inspection roles and responsibilities within the scope of oversight. This leads to the terms being used interchangeably, leading to confusion.
Inspections are important because they enable you to address workers’ and managers’ concerns, gain a deeper understanding of jobs and responsibilities, and identify existing and potential hazards. This often acts as an incentive for the principal to improve the way the school works and aim for higher scores next time.
