BY TEACHER EGBAGBARA BLESSING JP, FIPCER.
Introduction:
It is a common knowledge in various schools that some teachers and the Schoolhead are not always in good terms as a result of the Schoolhead supervisory behavior.
The teaching career as a professional career as established by an act of the National Assembly, the teachers cherish at least some degree of independence and autonomy in their work. Close supervision, is a way of the Schoolhead as an administrator in the primary and secondary school system expression for excessive checking and strict enforcement of rules and regulations cannot augur well in the primary and secondary school system.
The situation where a school head is too strict in his or her supervision, there is bound to be too frequent misunderstanding between him and the teachers especially in a situation (as in schools) where Teachers are almost of equal or higher educational qualification than their school heads. Land, Corwin and Monahan (1967: 289) asserted that:
The nearer the authoritative one stands to subordinates in respect to origin experience, knowledge, education, rank of office and level of earning, the more insistently he may have to rely on the authority of his office, rather than personal respect and the more arbitrary his supervision will been. But such a school head, (supervisor) who feels threatened and therefore tries to make his/her power “visible” to his/her sub-ordinates, should realize that his/her men and women teacher may become defensive, nervous and may in extreme cases become alienated from the school system yet the school head must exercise meaningful control over these subordinates so as to guard against any deviant behavior on the part of the school personnel.
This is as seen by Lucio and Moneil, (1962:150) when they pointed out that during the first quarter of the 20th century “Teachers were regarded as instruments that should be closely supervised to ensure that they mechanically carried out the methods procedure determined by administrative and special supervisors: Before going in depth into the subject of discourse, let me specially appreciate Hon. Mrs Rose Ezewu, Hon Commissioner Basic and Secondary Education, Delta State, whom I worked under her good supervision, when she was my vice Principal, Comrades, Chiefs Ohwoekevwo David JP, Odjoji Irene Imoni (Mrs.) Chairman and treasurer Emeritus Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) Ughelli North Branch, who actually groomed me in supervision and prudent management when I served with them as Branch secretary, Chief Dr. Okpidi T.J.I, Profs. Eboh Lucky and Muoboghare P.A, Comr. Okotie Titus (Chairman NUT Delta State), my mentors and role models, My Wife Mrs Egbagbara Julie, Kesiena Christabel Abafe, my little daughter and son, Miss Oghenekobiruo Miracle and Mst. Oghenemise David Peniel Egbagbara, who will always burn the midnight candle with me any time I have the urge to write, Pastor Mrs Otunkena Mercy, Pastor Mrs Odemejovwor Ufuoma, Bishop Owholo James of Faith and Light crusaders ministry Ughelli, My Mother Aduviekeya Grace Odedaye Egbagbara, Comrades Vincent Lucky, Ederehwevbie Godfrey (Phd), whom served me as Branch secretary and treasurer of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) WHEN I WAS CHAIRMAN , Rev. Dr. Mrs Elizabeth Ojameruaye (Phd) and Mrs Patience Evabeta, My Principals at both Ughelli mixed secondary school Ughelli and Owevwe secondary school Agbarha Otor, Ms Shaka Rosemary Fortune, Principal Assah secondary school for all your encouragements to me.
As applied to today’s schools, however, supervision is the process of helping Teachers to improve both instruction and the curriculum.
Harris say that “Supervision of instruction is what school personnel do with adults and things to maintain or change the school operations in ways that directly influence the teaching process employed to promote pupils learning relationships”. What we find today in most schools is that most schools heads do not help teachers to improve both instructions and curriculum instead, they condemn nearly everything done by the teacher; there is nothing like constructive criticism and as a result, most teachers are driven to the wall and they react negatively.
School heads do not realize that, the motives which cause men and women to become teachers varies and that they range from generalized liking to likeness for children, religious beliefs, a desire to impact knowledge, or serve mankind, to a need to acquire power and manipulates others. School heads, who are partial in their dealings with teachers can bring “bad blood” between themselves, the concerned teacher and other teachers, some school heads can cover up for certain teachers, but when such a case concerns others, they readily issue out query without verbal warning. Definitely, such a teacher will not take kindly to it, as he is bound to make comparison.
The status of the teachers affects the morale of teachers and this affects their activities in schools, which in turn brings in the school head for instance, a teacher who is not emotional balanced from home may not relate well with his head at school. He may come late to school and may not likely go for his lessons.
Those in position of authority do not also help matters. Although those concerned with education in schools pay lips services to the idea that the personal and professional life of teachers should in no way be more adequate or circumscribed than that of any other comparable work group in the society. In reality the forces which operates outside and sometimes within the school lead to the conclusion that education has not yet reach the status of a PROFESSION.
Teachers different from other educated adults may react by suppressing reasonable desire and satisfaction by developing feeling of inadequacy or by leaving the teachers field, frustration of teachers will surely be transferred to the school head, if he is too strict.
Teachers also complain of the manner in which they are treated by the authorities, that while some school heads are not fair in judgment, others do not involve them reasonably enough, when decision affects, they are to be taking on school matters rather the school head just takes decisions. There is also a very showing feeling in some quantities that the rate of absenteeism in any organizations tends to increase as supervisory qualities deteriorates.
Some school heads insist that none of the teachers should leave the school premise until after the officials hours of closing say two o’clock or three in the afternoon, it is obvious that such “caged” teachers would occasionally take time off on their own to attend to some of their urgent needs and to return a couple of days after which a medical certificate or illness is presented. One point is worthy of note and that as Blum and Naylor (1968: 550) put it that employers must have time to take care of their own personal Needs and that if the hours of work prevent this, then absentee rates will be high. Some school heads as leaders in the school have no ability to inspire their teachers. All they know how to do best is talk, making the teacher know that they are the boss and teachers do not consider such school head as an ideal school head.
According to a Chinese philosopher and poet, Leo Tse “A leader is best, when people scarcely know he exists, not so good when they blindly obey and acclaim him, worse when they despise him fail to honour people,They fail to honour you”.
But of a good leader, who talks with, “when his work is done, his aim is fulfilled. They will all say, “we did this ourselves” the success of any enterprise depends solely upon this head or the manager of such an enterprise, be it business, school, or an organization.”
Thus the success of any school in meeting its stated goals or objectives principally depends on the school. School heads are supposed to be adviser to teachers and they are expected to provide helpful suggestions which would improve the quantity of education in schools.
They are supposed to be concerned with the problem of excellence and quality (Ogunsoju 1981:41). They should provide an honest, quality, accurate and definite reports on the teacher he observes but in most cases, the school head are not honest in the supervision, most of them are partial and this breeds bad blood amongst the teachers and the school head.
One of the function of the school head is the creation of a wholesome emotional tone for the school. Some schools are happy hard working, enjoyable situation, others are dull, disagreeable places, which both the teachers and pupils dislike and avoid as much as possible. In the first type of school, teachers like each other and enjoy being with the pupils. In the second type of school, teachers have little in common and get away from children as soon as they can, much of the difference lies in the way the school Head or departmental head works with people and sets the stage for human relationship.
The basic way for a school head to help create a satisfying emotional tone is by respecting the personality of all the individual with whom he comes in contact.
Respect for the personality of the teachers by the school head has many manifestations. It involves being concerned about them and their problems, being willing to place their desires head of his own, giving full consideration to their ideals and suggestions creating the type of staff meeting in which teachers has an opportunity to make known, encouraging social activities that build friendly relationship among the staff, providing working conditions that are comfortable and attractive and such common place things as maintaining an ever disposition and showing countering. The way the school head treats the teachers influences the way the teachers deal with the children.
The human touch in supervision consists of little things that pleases people. An essential element of supervision is real friendliness, simple reciprocal, friendliness is not enough. In a position in which success depends upon working through others, friendliness must have an outgoing quality. It cannot be the type in which the school head is friendly only to teachers friendly to him or the type that makes the other person take the first step. Some school heads are not friendly. Some cannot even put up a smile. A smile is a little thing, but it sets the tone of a school. Teachers become unfriendly when the Schoolhead is unfriendly to then:
Since the supervisor is charged solely with the responsibility of helping teachers to improve their teaching skills. It becomes very necessary what the supervisor must know what is being done and how it is being done.
Presently, it can, be said that children are being taught mostly by untrained and inexperienced teachers, many of whom receive very little supervision for instance at the school level in 1980 unqualified teachers are those with qualification below NCE constituted 63% of the secondary school teaching force and today though our schools have qualified teachers, most of them are untrained unless they go for diploma courses in education. These sets of teachers may not understand when the school head makes unfavorable remarks about their teaching and so react negatively.
Psychological research and theory (Guss 1961) have indicated that an individual reception of himself and his roles, the expectations of others create in part this self-image which directs behavior hence, perception involves self-understanding and assessment about the behavior of others.
No two persons are the same, even identical twice. People behave in different ways because of their background and up bring. Like other individuals they may have psychological and personal problems. Most school head do not consider the welfare of their teachers, all they are concerned with is the job being done. Some of them issues queries to teachers at the slightest offence. It is unnecessary for the school head to query a teacher, instead he should learn to accept the teacher and find means of understanding him more.
A school head who has this skills is promoting an atmosphere in which the other person (Teacher) is taught something about how to get along with others, as Khan and other (1964) once asserted “organization are reducible to individual human acts, yet they are lawful and in a part understandable only at the level of collective behavior.
This, in any organization, it would be Noticed that supervision is a function which exist in various degrees and in various form consequently, it is perceived differently from outright hostility through indifference to outright enthusiasm. Infact how a person perceives supervisor practices. A denial and competition will leave most teachers with attitudes of supervision towards even to most conducive supervision environment, as a result knowledgeable supervisors or Schoolheads may discover that their actions and statements are becoming terrors to Teachers and that the methods used is different from the traditional inspectorate patterns. By the same token then, it should be recognised that unpleasant experience are difficult for teachers to copy with, the same thing applies to other personnel in the school system, most teachers would prefer avoiding being supervision or being made the object of supervision.
This is because some of them consider supervision as a programme dealing with material idea and schedules rather than with the teaching learning situation it affects personal relationships. Most teachers continues to recognize a contradiction and express strong ambivalence about the place and functions of supervisory service, It is the responsibility of the supervisors to dispel the fear already generated in the minds of teachers and make them realize that supervisor are prepared to help teacher improve and adjust to changes. They should be encouraged to feel free and be creative in order to advance the frontiers of knowledge.
Supervision required leadership role which must be performed in order to sustain the excellence of an organization, that is the school supervisor plays a major role not only in create a positive relationship between the school head and the teacher but also in providing ample evidence upon which assessment can be based. Thus for a school head to be successful on his daily school administration and supervision, he needs leadership capability. Also he needs to have a clean understanding of the people he is leading.
This is very essential because people differ from one another and a person’s reaction to life is influenced mostly by that way he is treated by others. Spain and association (1956) as cited by Egbagbara (2010) assisted solutions differs and it is difficult therefore to generalize conscience effective leadership… answers once thought to be satisfactory regarding administration leadership are not harmonicons will what has been learned through basic researches in industry, psychology, psychiatry and groups dynamics. By the same token, the school head should be knowledgeable enough to know that what may be a motivation for one leader, may not necessarily be a motivation for another Teacher.
Mascow confirms this assumption when in one of his stanches he attempted to explain human behavior on the basis of a hierarchy of needs he claimed that man has five basic categories of needs; psychological, safety, social, ego and self-actualization and that these needs firm hierarchy or ladder and that each need becomes active only when lower, level need is reasonably satisfied an illustration of MASLOW’S need.
Physiological needs Safety needs Social needs Ego needs Self-actualization needs
In this time of economic recession, it is very difficult for people to meet these basic needs and so the school head who does not consider all these needs may step on so many teachers’ toes. Some school heads do not realize that beginning teachers need more supervising help than exploited teachers.
Some of them often fail to appreciate the difficulties that usually face the beginning teacher, the teacher is left alone on trial and error experiment until it becomes obvious to the school head that a problem exist for the beginning teachers, some school heads will only criticize the teacher while the considerable one gives professional advice and guidance that the beginning teacher can learn to gain confidence in himself and as will develop interest in his new profession assumption can lead to positive or relative reaction from teachers. In any enterprise (school), certain assumptions are likely to be made about people. It is then left to the individual to have a particular kind of theory to follow in making assumptions about people.
Some assumptions will definitely promote peace and generate harmony within the school, while some will create problems for whosoever does the assumption. Some school heads are very autocratic, they assume that because of their position, they can always make arbitrary decisions for the school and teachers without consultation with the teachers. In most cases, this kind of decisions are bound to be in effective since the decisions will surely meet the opposition of the teachers, some schoolheads both at the primary and secondary school also thinks that their personality have no bearing, whosoever on their sub-ordinates, that no matter their attitude, sense of judgment and personal pride, people must stay with them and obey them.
It is true that the school head with such an assumption can still retain their position but there is every tendency that their leadership will be lost and their administration will become very weak and ineffective since people are bond to react to his actions. Omissions may be misinterpreted as much as actions.
Some school heads assumes that the staff knows that the work he is doing is good and that teachers are people of professional stature have their own standards and do not need assurance of another person that there are doing a good job. Many teachers will testify that they have not been told in the last four to six years that any phase of their work is good. Such attitude on the part of a school head shows that he is not concerned in his teaching (Egbagbora OB 2008). If the school head could let the average teacher see that he is as much concerned about results of teaching as about the record of the football team, then the vitality of many classrooms would be increased.
The school head who tries to avoid any of the assumption mentioned above in dealing with his teachers has removed the greater park of what can constitute stumbling block in the administration. Some teachers feels that Schoolheads use them as stepping stones to better positions.
They say a school head comes to their building, institutes a new program and is promoted to a higher rank on the basis of the results of their efforts. They develop a feeling of resentment and are determined that they will not be exploited further by a person who gave through their efforts.
When teachers see inequality in the work-load, they develop resentment that keeps them from assuming new responsibilities. This inequality may be among teachers as when some are asked to assume many extra duties or to carry a heavy pupils load while other have less responsibility or it may exist between the teachers load and the school head’s load, when teachers see the school head taking life easy, they have a good reason for refusing to increase their own burden.
Another reason why many teachers do not assume more responsibilities is that they are already overburdened. It is a common practice in some schools to exploit the willing works. If the school head want teachers to assume responsibilities they must not over load the members of the staff, who are quick to accept extra work. If teachers see that those who are willing to work hard are not protected from acquiring too much of a load, they become very reticent about assuming responsibilities. One of the functions of a school head is to see that no member of staff is over loaded. If the school head protects the staff members from assuming too much responsibilities, the hesitancy to volunteers disappears teachers knows that the school head wishes to protect not overloading them.
Morale also affects the behavior of teachers. Morale is the emotional and mental reactions of a person to his job. It may be high or low. A teacher may like his work and may believe that he is working with a fine group of people and in an excellent school system or he may distrust his administration, be dissatisfied with the amount of money he is receiving and resent his fellow workers. Actual conditions do not count.
The important element in morale is what the teacher believes and feel. Morale affects the amount of work a person does. Low morale cut down production.
High morale increases it. If morale is high, a staff will do its Best to promote effective learning. If morale is low, teachers will not live up to their potential ability and the school will operate at far less than its possible efficiency. High moral is but by making sure that the job provides the satisfaction an individual wants from life.
A teacher who was offered a position paying 30 percent more salary turned it down with the reply No, I would rather stay in my present position at a lower salary. There are so many satisfaction in my job that I don’t want to leave it. Her school head had succeeded in creating the line of working conditions that give the staff the feeling that the school was one of the best that could be found. If teacher’s morale is to be high, the school head or official leaders in school must operates in ways that will enable staff members to obtain satisfaction from their job.
These satisfaction are: security and a comfortable living, pleasant, working conditions, a sense of belonging, fair treatment, a sense of achievement and growth, recognition of conduction, participation in deciding policy and opportunity to maintain self-respect.
Teachers wants security and a comfortable living. Why comfort does not really means luxury, but teachers wants to be able to maintain a standard of living that does not force them to pinch pennies or kobo. People want to be able to provide food, clothing and shelter for their families, to feel free from financial worry and to afford an occasional luxury (Egbagbara 2015).
Teacher also wants a job with pleasant working conduction. For different people the factor that make pleasant working conductions varies, but such qualities of the working environment as attractiveness. Cleanliness, plenty of up to date equipment, provision for employee comfort and support from the management appear to be universally desirable. What teachers find in our schools today is hardship and poor working condition of services. In some cases, there are no doors or windows, chairs and tables are not there for the teachers over the pupils, at times teachers under dilapidated classroom.
Teachers are not treated fairly. Teachers wants to be treated fairly, they resent being asked to carry more than their share of the load or having someone get the advantage in salary recognition. This reaction is apparent in the statement of a new teacher in a New Jersey school.
This can also be apply to any teacher in Delta state and Nigeria “Being a new teacher in the system, I expected to do some dirty work, but not all of it the pets in this system never have an extra duty, the only thing you have to do around here to get out of the work is to be a friend of the Schoolhead. The statement of the above teacher’s morale is easy to see when the group believes that certain members are getting an advantage, group spirit disappears and morale is lowered. Teachers resent discrimination begins to decrease their output when they think the official leadership is playing favorites.
Teachers want to feel important in the job. A director of industrial relations once stated that frequently “Almost everybody want somebody and someone a little better than any other body. Teachers like every human being deserves to feel important. People want others to recognize that the work they are doing is making a real contribution to the welfare of the group so the school head do not recognize good work that is they do with keep other teachers or the community informed of the significant activities being conducted by each teacher.
Few teachers get too many complements. Infacts for most teachers it is a red letter day when they receive even one compliment for good teaching. Most school heads feels that teachers are Inferior but teachers say no to give full satisfaction, a just must allow people to maintain their feeling of self-respect. To respect one’s self involves having a feeling of equality, with those working with us. People cannot maintain their self-respect, if they are consistently made to feel that they are inferior.
They cannot retain self-respect, if they are placed in the position of being a “yes men” they want a position in which they can feel they are working rather than working for someone else.
From available records, it is evidence that most teachers do not like to being supervised or being made the object of supervision. This is because some of them consider supervision as a programme dealing with material ideas and schedule rather than with the teaching learning situations as it effects personal relationship. On the average most school heads do not supervise teachers work regularly rather they form opinion about their teachers on what they see on few occasion. Also some school heads do not seek teacher’s opinion before taking decisions that will affect them and most of them are not concerned with teacher’s problems.
They are not friendly at all. An essential element of supervision is real friendliness simple reciprocal friendliness is not enough. In a position in which success depends upon working through others, friendliness must have an out-going quality.
Finally most school heads think that their personality ways of life and their sense of feelings for other have no bearing whatsoever matter their attitudes, sense of Judgment and personal made, people must stay with than and obey then. It is true that the school head with such an assumption can still retain their position, but there is every testimony that their deader being will be lost and their administration will become very weak and ineffective; since people are bound to read to his action. The supervisory behavior of the school head is a motivating factor that influence teacher’s behavior.
Recommendation: Having discussed extensively, the attitude of teachers towards the supervisory behaviours of the school head it is the humbly recommendation of the writer that the school head should not view himself as a manipulator of the teachers, who works with him and should not be partial. He should give constructive criticizing rather than being biased.
He should give praise when a teacher deserves it because it will motivate the teacher. In addition the school head as an administrator and manager of human resources (Teachers) who are intellectuals, he should arrange for individual assessment of the staffs efforts and should not be stingy with praise, where praise is deserved and should always takes into consideration the teachers personal needs and his problems. He should keep his status and personality aside his supervisory work as this could kill productivity in the school system. Finally the supervisor should refocuses that the quality of his own behaviour in all person to person situation can be a mode formulation by others teachers should see the school head as partner in progress and not as enemies.
Conclusion: This paper tries to look indept into the attitude of Teachers towards the schools heads supervisory role at the Delta State Public primary and Secondary Schools in Delta State and Recommendations were made.
Teacher Dr. Blessing Egbagbara JP, FIPCER
Educationist and Principal Consultant,
Mersmars Educational Consult, Ughelli.
