The purpose of supervision (as it applies to the relationship between a school leader and school teachers) is:

To assist in creating a tone

• A tone of respect
• A tone of inclusion
• A tone of caring
• A tone of professionalism
• A tone of reflection
• A tone of “doing it better”
• A tone of celebration

To assist in crafting a vision

• Where are we versus where do we want to be

To assist in collaboration on goals leading to the vision

To assist in assessing improvement—movement towards the vision—and help in changing, adjusting, reformulating goals for continued improvement

To assist in caring for teachers—not only professionally but personally

To assist in the self-actualization of teachers

• Here I’m alluding to Aristotle’s view that life’s goal is to attain a state loosely translated as happiness but upon inspection refers to fulfilling the measure of our creation—i.e. to be excellent human beings, to live excellently. This comes about as a result of reflecting on our present state and constantly striving for oneness with our ideals. Bringing it back down to earth in the teaching realm, the supervisor can help teachers become “self-actualized” by providing opportunities for constant reflection, reinforcing a common vision of what it is to be an “excellent” teacher, and working together to make that vision a reality. In the process, the supervisor also moves towards self-actualization.

All of these with the goal of educating learners (understanding that defining “educating learners” is the preeminent precursor to all else) and helping them become fulfilled human beings.

Note that with all of these “purposes” I have used words such as assist, help, and collaborate. This speaks to my view that supervision is most effective when it is collaborative. Yes, the school leader sets the tone and gets the ball rolling, but from there I prefer that mission, vision, aims, improvement, policy-making, etc. is collaborative. The problem I have run into with teachers new to my style is that they sometimes find it unsettling initially, that Kevin is not a strong leader because he isn’t dictating to me from on high. My hope is that in time they realize that it takes considerably more leadership and effort to pull people together on a common task than to tell them what to do.

In regards to the reading, in chapters 4 and 5 Glickman spent considerable time on numbers 3, 4, 5, and 6 in my echelon. I was first given pause by the considerable time devoted to knowing my teachers, though it is patently clear that the better I know them, the better I can supervise them. The corollary to this is I cannot expect to treat all of my faculty the same way, as they are sometimes far separated in age, experience, and expertise. The need for tailoring my approach based on these and other factors hit me right between the eyes. The research points out something that is intuitively true but which I hadn’t internalized into my practice.

A further insight I gained was the importance of ensuring that teachers feel secure and of providing proper pastoral care for them. As with students, so with teachers: If a student is having non-academic problems in or out of school, it’s going to affect her performance. Likewise with teachers. Glickman cites Merriam and Clark’s study:

One of Merriam and Clark’s most significant findings was the predominance of work-related learning for both men and women and the evidence that more learning occurs when things are going well in both arenas (work and family life). However, learning that led to a real perspective transformation most often was associated with coping with the difficult times in either work (e.g., being fired) or family life (e.g., losing a parent). Since much of the most significant adult learning appears to be from life experience, the role of the supervisor may be critical in helping teachers to experience growth as an outcome of unsettling life experiences in the professional, personal, or family domains. Although the supervisor need not and should not assume the role of therapist, one implication of the social roles models of adult development is that a teacher’s personal, family, and professional roles interact with and affect each other and need to be addressed holistically by supervision (Glickman 75).

We all can take advantage of the current economic uncertainty by contacting our most important stakeholders and looking for opportunities to grow our trust account with them. Many people are frozen and afraid to call their customers and other key stakeholders for fear of hearing bad news. Guess what? The bad news is there whether or not you hear it. Much better to confront reality and give your customer a listening outlet to discuss challenges and feel understood than to abandon the relationship during difficult times. Now is the time to over-communicate with your customers and other key stakeholders. Give them someone they can trust by behaving in ways that inspire trust.

Read more here.

• Organize a routine.
• Keep an orderly office.
• Delegate.
• Answer email in chunks 2-3 times per day.
• Have a proper filing system.
• Get ready for tomorrow today.

I might add: escape while you can. One thing Parkhurst does not address is how to get into the classrooms when one is a teaching principal. Classroom visits clearly become more of problem when the principal is teaching 1/3 to 1/2 of the day. In this case, I just have to clear the entire slate some afternoons or mornings to make sure I’m seeing teachers and students, and they are seeing me.

Photo by ecastro