INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISION IN JAMAICA: PERSPECTIVES OF PRINCIPALS AND TEACHERS

Abstract

INTRODUCTION: Crime retards all forms of social development, including educational advancement. The general crime problem in Jamaica is such that it is now the leading national problem followed by unemployment and education, and this is affecting the amount of time principals allot to its management compared to instructional supervision or leadership.

OBJECTIVES: The objectives of the current study are 1) To evaluate the perceived usage of instructional supervision in non-traditional high school in Kingston and lower St. Andrew; 2) To determine factors that influence instructional supervision in non-traditional high school in Kingston and lower St. Andrew; 3) To examine disparities in instructional supervision by particular socio-demographic characteristics, and 4) To assess the effectiveness of principals’ supervisory practices in non-traditional high schools in Kingston and lower St. Andrew.

METHODS: This study employed a positivistic theoretical framework which allowed for a survey research methodology that was based on 1) measurement and sampling, 2) questionnaire, and 3) statistical analyses.

FINDINGS: Among the results of this study are 1) low instructional cultured leadership, ineffective supervisory practices, poor performance of students and direct association between instructional supervision and students’ performance.

CONCLUSION: The failure of many schools and their principals is based on the time allotted to security management, corrective measures and social deviance among their students and principalship instead of instructional leadership. The current empirical findings provide insights to the practices (or lack of) among principals in violent prone communities or students are mostly drawn from violent areas. This work, therefore, the basis upon which policies can be implemented and interventions can be fashioned as well as future research be structured for the functioning of such these institutions.