Head teachers supervisory practices and it’s influence on teacher performance in the junior high schools in public basic schools in the Tikrom circuit of the Ejisu District

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to examine the influence of head teachers supervisory practices on the performance of teachers in public Basic Schools in the Tikrom Circuit of the Ejisu District Descriptive research design using the mixed method approach was adopted for the study. Census sampling technique was used to select a sample size of 142 respondents for the study comprising of 14 head teachers and 128 teachers. Questionnaire and interview were the data collection instrument for the study. The quantitative study was analysed with descriptive statistics such as frequencies and percentages whereas thematic approach was used to analyse the qualitative data. The study revealed that the clinical supervision was the mostly used supervisory practices by head teachers in the Tikrom Circuit followed by mentorship, peer supervision, informal supervision developmental supervision and cognitive supervision. The study further revealed that teachers have positive attitude towards supervision as majority of them disagreed or strongly disagreed to the statements concerning their negative attitude toward supervision. However, some of the respondents still believed that supervision is a fault finder. The study also revealed that both head teachers and teachers believed that supervision helps to improve classroom instruction and instil discipline among teachers. Regarding the challenges, the study revealed that: workload of head teachers, inadequate relevant training programs to update head teachers on supervision roles among other factors hinder supervision activities in the study area. The study recommends that Ghana Education Service (GES) through the Ejisu District directorate of education should intensify its support services by organising regular refresher courses and workshops on supervision for head teachers and newly appointed head teachers to equip them with the requisite supervisory skills.