Whither Supervision?

Authors

  • Duncan Waite Educational and Community Leadership Program Educational Administration and Psychological Services Department Texas State University-San Marcos

Keywords:

School supervision, organizational culture, postmodernism.

Abstract

This paper inquires if the school supervision is in decadence. Dr. Waite responds that the answer will depend on which perspective you look at it. Dr. Waite suggests taking in consideration three elements that are related: the field itself, the expert in the field (the professor, the theorist, the student and the administrator), and the context. When these three elements are revised, it emphasizes that there is not a consensus about the field of supervision, but there are coincidences related to its importance and that it is related to the improvement of the practice of the students in the school for their benefit. Dr. Waite suggests that the practice on this field is not always in harmony with what the theorists affirm. When referring to the supervisor or the skilled person, the author indicates that his or her perspective depends on his or her epistemological believes or in the way he or she conceives the learning; that is why supervision can be understood in different ways. About the context, Waite suggests that there have to be taken in consideration the social or external forces that influent the people and the society, because through them the education is affected. Dr. Waite concludes that the way to understand the supervision depends on the performer’s perspective. He responds to the initial question saying that the supervision authorities, the knowledge on this field, the performers, and its practice, are maybe spread but not extinct because the supervision will always be part of the great enterprise that we called education.

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References

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Published

2006-11-01