English Teachers’ Perception of Teacher Supervision: A qualitative study in an Iranian context(مقاله علمی وزارت علوم)
حوزه های تخصصی:
Supervising teachers, as a basic component of an educational plan, has positive effects on teachers’ classroom behaviors. Following the tenets of Sociocultural theory of mind, this qualitative study delvd into the perception of EFL teachers regarding their worldviews of what supervision is and what it must be like. For this purpose, 25 participants (10 supervisors,10 in-service teachers, and 5 pre-service teachers) were recruited and interviewed. Their responses to a semi-structured interview were recorded by mobile phone, transcribed, and then translated into English for ease of interpretation. To analyze the data, thematic analysis was used. The emerged themes showed that the participants preferred supervision with feedback which is constructive, timely, with effective solution in challenging situations, effective in identifying tecaher’s strengths and weaknesses, suggestive and non-judgemental. They also believed that supervision must be with no imposition, with prior notice, with a checklist, in a relaxed atmosphere, with a competent supervisor and without supervisor presence. Criticizing the running model of supervision, they believed that the feedback offered is judgemental and inappropriate, offers no solution to the problems, and has no purpose for improvement. Finally, some valuable implications for TTC holders, supervisors, and on-the-job mentors, and also several recommendations for further research are presented.