INVESTIGATION ON THE ROLE OF SUPERVISION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN PRIMARY SCHOOL SETTING

INVESTIGATION ON THE ROLE OF SUPERVISION IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE IN PRIMARY SCHOOL SETTING

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND OF STUDY

According to Segun (2004), the quality of school supervision in modern school institutions requires a lot of attention because many people are now more aware than in the past about the value of education. As a result, there is a great deal of interest in the day-to-day operations of the school system (Bessong and Ojong, 2009). According to Hismanoglu and Hismanoglu (2010), it is difficult to agree on a clear definition of the term “educational supervision” due to differences in orientations, perceptions, knowledge, and familiarity with framework components, as well as content analysis. Educational supervision is defined by Daresh (2001).

While Kilminster, Jolly, and Van der Vleuten (2007) define educational supervision as the provision of guidance and feedback on matters of personal, professional, and educational development in the context of the trainee’s experience, Kilminster, Jolly, and Van der Vleuten (2007) define educational supervision as the provision of guidance and feedback on matters of personal, professional, and educational development in the context of the trainee’s experience.

Segun (2004) defines supervision as the encouragement of instructors’ professional growth and development, the selection and modification of educational objectives, instructional materials, teaching techniques, and the evaluation of instruction (Bessong and Ojong, 2009). Supervisory activities are defined by Dodd (2008) as counseling, directing, rejuvenating, encouraging, stimulating, improving, and supervising specific groups with the goal of gaining their cooperation in order for supervisors to be effective in their supervisory activities (Bessong and Ojong, 2009). According

According to Bailey (2006), modern educational supervision is defined as a technological process that attempts to improve teaching and learning through the care, direction, and simulation of ongoing growth for not only teachers but also any other individual who has an influence in the educational setting. Bailey (2006) defines educational supervision as a multi-stage collaborative process that accepts a variety of perspectives and represents the proper interaction between the supervisor and the teacher in order to address educational challenges and find acceptable solutions.

Definitions can outline various functions of educational supervision (Smith, 2005), and Hismanoglu and Hismanoglu (2010) classify these functions into six major categories: Curriculum development, educational setting supervision and organization, teacher professional development supervision, and teaching methods supervision

and techniques, as well as the supervision of new teachers and the evaluation of educational processes.

Other reasons for educational supervision outlined by Nwaogu (2006) include improving incompetent teachers, providing staff development guides, assisting teachers in seeing problems and needs of students and assisting them in solving these problems and providing as much as possible for the majority of their needs, enlisting the cooperation of all staff members in serving their own needs and those of others to prevent teaching difficulties, and knowing the effectivness of educational supervision (Bessong and Ojong, 2009). According to Alemayehu (2008), since the era of neoscientific management, most school supervision has focused on teacher inspection and control. When supervision is carried out in a manner that emphasizes guidance and instruction,

It will go a long way toward improving performance if we focus on growth rather than judgment and criticism (Wilkinson, 2010). This demonstrates that the improvement of the teaching learning process is dependent on teacher attitudes toward supervision, and it should be noted that supervisory practice will not produce the desired results unless teachers view supervision as a process of promoting professional growth and student learning.

1.2 THE PROBLEM’S STATEMENT

Nigeria’s basic education program has had a number of problems over the years, and it appears that the issue is not necessarily one of adequate knowledge and policies, but rather one of effective program implementation and oversight. Supervision can be viewed as an interaction with some type of pre-existing connection between and among participants. Individuals, in which people interact with one another. One of the problems, according to Obayan (2008), is the situation of relenting effort in the teaching of English language in primary schools; this is a situation in which primary school teachers show less concern about teaching English language, all of which contributes to poor pupil performance in tests. The inability of supervisors to coordinate instructors’ efforts may also be viewed as a problem. Another issue could be a difficulty understanding the value of people as human beings, which could lead to an inability to build mutual trust between students and teachers. Finally, while numerous studies on instructional supervision have been conducted, not a single study has been conducted on the role of supervision in the development of students.

English language instruction in primary school. Based on this concept, this study seeks to investigate the role of supervision in the development of English language in a primary school setting.

1.3 THE STUDY’S OBJECTIVES

The study’s primary goal is to investigate the role of supervision in the development of English language skills. Other study objectives include:

i. Determine the extent to which supervision influences primary school English language instruction.

ii. Identifying the factors influencing the supervision of English language teachers in primary schools.

iii. To assess the impact of supervision on English language teachers in primary schools.

iv. To make recommendations for improving primary school supervision in Nigeria.

1.4 QUESTIONS FOR RESEARCH

The investigation is ongoing.

guided by the following inquiries:

i. To what extent does supervision influence primary school English language instruction?

ii. What factors influence the supervision of English language teachers in primary schools?

iii. What effect does supervision have on English language teachers in primary schools?

iv. What are the strategies for improving primary school supervision in Nigeria?

1.65 THE IMPORTANCE OF THE STUDY

The study on the role of supervision in the development of English language will be extremely beneficial to the entire primary school as well as the government in the sense that the government will recognize the importance of regular supervision of primary school teachers. l. The study will inform school administrators and managers about the importance of to improve their instructional supervision, as this is required for completion of the UBE program. The study will also be beneficial to the State Universal Basic Education Board because it will provide them with information that will help them improve teacher training, provide teachers with adequate instructional materials, and pay teachers salaries in order to motivate them to ensure the successful implementation of the UBE program. The study will also enable teachers to be more dedicated to their jobs, knowing that they can be supervised or checked at any time, and that anyone found wanting could face severe consequences. Finally, the study will add to the body of existing literature and knowledge in this field.

field of study and basis for further research.

1.7 STUDY OBJECTIVES

The research on the role of supervision in the development of English language skills is limited to the primary school setting. The study will go over the level of supervision that exists in primary education and identify strategies for improving primary education supervision. The study, however, is limited to a few primary schools in River State’s Echie Local Government.

1.7 THE STUDY’S LIMITATIONS

The researchers encountered minor constraints while conducting the study, as with any human endeavor. The significant constraint was the scarcity of literature on the subject due to the fact that it is a new discourse, so the researcher incurred additional financial expenses and spent a significant amount of time locating relevant literature.

materials, literature, or information and during the data collection process, which is why the researcher resorted to a limited sample size covering only selected primary schools in Echie Local Government in River State. As a result, the findings of this study cannot be generalized to other primary schools in other Nigerian states. Furthermore, the researcher’s involvement in this study while also working on other academic projects will impede maximum dedication to the research. Nonetheless, despite the constraints encountered during the research, all factors were minimized in order to provide the best results and make the research a success.

1.8 TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Instructional Supervision: The work of ensuring the implementation of a school’s educational mission by supervising, equipping, and empowering teachers is known as instructional supervision.

to provide meaningful learning experiences for students.

Checking of teachers’ lesson notes, scheme of work, pupils’ notes, teachers’ punctuality, teachers’ regularity in class, classroom observation, demonstration, conferencing, workshop, micro-teaching, moderation of examination question papers, and grading of students are all instructional supervisory activities performed by the school head.