Clinical Supervision

…has as its goal the professional development of

teachers, with an emphasis on improving teachers’ classroom

performance. (Acheson & Gall, p. 1)

Clinical Supervision

Jones’ Law #1

• Teachers are not born…they grow

Most teachers

• Are good teachers some of the time and not so good (or downright awful) at other times

Classrooms are incredibly busy places

• …classrooms are complex environments in which teachers often must make quick decisions while using incomplete information

Classrooms are incredibly busy places

Philip Jackson, Life in Classrooms (1968) - over 1,000 interpersonal interactions in a single day

Classrooms are incredibly busy places

Philip Jackson, Life in Classrooms (1968)

Over 1,000 interpersonal interactions daily

Supervision Problem #1 – Determining what professional teaching

looks like

Consider the Inquiry Teacher The Perfect The Perfect The Perfect

Classroom Teacher Lesson

After Borich, 2003

(how it looks, smells, feels, etc.)

(classroom management, instructional methods, presentation style, etc.)

(subject, duration, type of activity, etc.)

A Terrible A Terrible A Terrible

Classroom Teacher Lesson

After Borich, 2003

(how it looks, smells, feels, etc.)

(classroom management, instructional methods, presentation style, etc.)

(subject, duration, type of activity, etc.)

Consider the Inquiry Teacher

Wonderful Classroom• Kids engaged (bad pun)• Student work displayed• Cooperative Learning• Confidence level of students is high• Smells good (dissected sharks?)• Spacious and comfortable• Colorful, bright• Displays evidence of learning• Non-threatening• Teacher’s positive attitude• Warm and inviting (no yelling)• Accepting• PROBLEMS EVIDENT• Teacher is facilitating

Not-so-Wonderful Classroom• Cluttered in a non-organized manner• Sterile• Blank walls• Quiet, no-academic interaction• Dirty, smelling• Students uninvolved• Statements instead of questions• Austere, cold• Teacher centered• Desks all in a row• Blank stares…• Stacks of paper• Smells old

Teachers’ Roles• Subject-matter

Knowledge– Includes the specific

information needed to present content

• Action-System Knowledge– Skills for planning

lessons, making pacing decisions, explaining materials clearly, responding to individual differences..

After Leinhardt, Putnam, Stein & Baxter (1981)

Dunkin and Biddle

Study of Teaching (1973)

Presage

Context

Process Product

Teacher intelligence, motivation, training…

Class size, bussing, …

Student background, motivation…

Questioning, models, management…

Test scores, graduation rates, …

From Transactional Analysis, we know…

Pre-ignition Afterburn

Success

Bomb

Observation SkillsBut toward what end?

-Research?

-Teacher Assistance?

Reward/Punish?

Views of Data Recording(after Evertson & Green)

Less Highly

Formal Formal

Everyday

Tacit

ObservationsSituation-

Specific

Observations

Question-

Specific

Observations

Deliberate

Systematic

Everyday

Deliberate

Systematic

Purposes of Teacher Assessment

• To assist in institutional and administrative decision making–Whom to promote, place on growth

plans, recommend for licensure…• To increase instructional effectiveness

From Evaluation to ….• To meet contractual requirements,

e.g. punctuality, attendance, extra-curricular assignments…

• To certify the effectiveness of instruction to the board, public, staff.

• To illuminate and made commendations for excellence in instructional practices.

• To meet legal requirements as determined by legal mandates.

• To apply district/school adopted criteria for judging instructional effectiveness.

From Evaluation to ….• To monitor professional conduct: e.g., dress,

continuing to learn, participating in district improvement tasks, enthusiasm, etc.

• To identify instructional deficiencies and plan learning opportunities to remediate those deficiencies.

• To guarantee minimum uniformity.

Top

Down

Is it any wonder….?“Under the supervisory structure used

in many schools, teachers may view feedback from supervisors with suspicion or hostility” (Good & Brophy)

Leadership Styles…. Theory X Theory Y

• The average human being has an inherent dislike of work and will avoid it if (s)he can

• People have to be coerced, controlled, directed, threatened to get them to put forward appropriate effort

• People prefer to be be directed and avoid responsibility; most have little ambition and want security above all

• The expenditure of physical and mental effort in work is as natural as play or rest

• Humans exercise self-direction in the service of committed objectives

• Commitment is a function of rewards associated with their achievement

• The average human seeks responsibility

• Imagination, ingenuity, and creativity are widely distributed

• Human intellectual potential is only partly utilized

After McGregor

Clinical Supervision ….• To improve teacher performance• To enhance classroom climate for learning.• To improve the organization of instruction.• To align teaching processes and learning activities

with theory and learner needs.• To identify and resolve school and classroom

problems that may be hindering learning.

Clinical Supervision ….• To identify and remediate students’ behavior

problems.• A central objective … is the development of the

professionally responsible teacher who is analytical of his/her own performance, open to help from others, and withal self-directing (Maurice Cogan)

• Guides teachers toward self-evaluation• Bridges the real-ideal gap

Teacher Supervisor

Supervision Problem #2 – Who should do the supervision

Teacher

Superordinate

Colleague

Clinical…• …meant to suggest a face-to-face relationship

between teacher and supervisor and a focus on the teacher’s actual behavior in the classroom

• Teacher-centered supervision (paralleling Carl Rogers’ “person-centered” counseling)

George C. Kyte (1930)

1. Planning for the observation of teaching2. Getting the most out of the observation

period3. Analyzing the teaching observed

George C. Kyte (1930)Identified two kinds of conferences1. After a supervisory visit or the products of pupils’

efforts have been submitted to a supervisory officer

2. Preparatory – first conferences with a new teacher, consultations based on requests of teachers, interviews for for planning classroom experimentation

Approaches to Clinical Supervision (after Edward Pajak)

Original Models (1960’s - early 1970’s)

1962 Harvard-Lexington Summer Program of Harvard’s MAT program*

Robert Goldhammer (1969)(Anderson, Krajewski (1993)

Maurice Cogan* (1973)Ralph Mosher &

David Purpel (1972)

• Collegiality and mutual discovery of meaning

Clinical Supervision ….Popular assumptions

• Learning to teach is easy; the preparation for teaching should therefore be short and simple

• Teachers’ 12+ years as students provide teacher education students with certain models of what teachers are and do

• Professionals need little face-to-face interactions from other professionals

Clinical Supervision ….

• Big Changes…

• Face-to-face relationships between supervisors and teachers

• Detailed observational data

• Intensity of focus in professional relationships

Clinical Supervision ….• – “of, relating to, or conducted in or as if in a clinic” and

“involving or depending on direct observation…”

• “the presentation, analysis, and treatment of actual cases and concrete problems in some special field”

• General supervision subsumes supervisory operations principally outside of the classroom

• Clinical supervision focuses upon the improvement of the teacher’s classroom instruction

• Assumption – teacher education is continuous – becoming a teacher is developmental

Early Clinical Supervisory Moves

Robert Goldhammer (1969)

1. Pre-Observation Conference

2. Observation

3. Analysis and Strategy4. Supervision Conference5. Post-Conference Analysis

Morris Cogan (1973)1. Establishing the teacher-supervisor

relationship2. Planning with the teacher3. Planning the strategy of

observation4. Observing instruction5. Analyzing the teaching-learning

processes6. Planning the strategy of the

conference7. The conference8. Renewed Planning

Approaches to Clinical Supervision (after Edward Pajak)

Humanistic/Artistic Models

(mid 1970s to early 1980s)

Blumberg- Counseling the key

Eisner- Artistic Approach- “hear the music” as well as observe the action

• Positive and productive interpersonal relations with holistic understanding of classroom events

Approaches to Clinical Supervision (after Edward Pajak)

Technical/Didactic Models

(early to mid 1980s)Acheson & GallHunterJoyce & Showers

• Effective teaching strategies, techniques, and organizational expectations

Approaches to Clinical Supervision (after Edward Pajak)

Developmental/Reflective Models

(mid 1980s to present)Glickman, Schon,

Costa & Garmston, Zeichner & Liston, Garman, Smyth, Retallick, Bowwers & Flinders

• Teacher cognitive development, introspection, and discovery of context-specific principles of practice

The Three Phases of the Clinical Supervision Cycle

After Acheson and Gall

Supervisory Assumptions• Instructional improvement is not a superficial process; it requires

considerable time and effort• When dealing with adult professionals, no one changes another person’s

behavior• Goal directed behavior is more effective in achieving instructional

improvement than behavior that is not focused on specific outcomes• Objective recording and descriptive reporting of teaching data are more

useful for instructional improvement than subjective, evaluative statements

• Teaching, as an intellectual and social act, is amenable to intellectual analysis

• Supervisors demonstrate leadership most effectively as a participant of educational growth

An Effective Teacher Satisfactorily• Provides instruction in academic knowledge and skills’• Provides an instructional climate that helps students develop

positive attitudes toward learning and self• Adjusts instruction in response to students’ abilities, ethnic

identification, home background, and gender• Manages the learning environment so students are engaged

in learning• Makes sound decisions and plans• Implements agreed-upon curriculum decisions

After Acheson and Gall, p. 44

… this courseWill provide you background and skills to assist in this

growth by

• Understanding the theory of supervision• Mastering observation skills• Becoming adept at conferencing and feedback• Being able to tie classroom efforts with a research

base

Slides courtesyDr. Howard Jones