THE TEACHER IN RELATION TO SUPERVISION
Teachers are generally responsible in some measure to one or more
supervisory officers. Those who control the schools believe that
better work will be done because of the supervision which is
provided. It may not be out of place, therefore, in a book devoted to
the problems of the teacher to consider the relation to supervision
and to those who supervise her work.
The fundamental purpose of supervision, whether of schools or of
other activities, is increased efficiency of all who participate
in the work. Supervisors are worthy of the name only when they
do their best to increase the efficiency of every teacher with
whom they come in contact. Happily, this attitude of helpfulness
characterizes most of those who are known as principals, primary
or grammar-grade supervisors, subject supervisors, assistant and
associate superintendents, and superintendents of schools. It may be
that because of the great number of teachers employed in a system of
schools some of these officers can have little direct relationship
with individual teachers; but in the organization of the schools,
by means of regulations, courses of study and the like, or through
those who come directly in contact with teachers, these men and women
seek to help each teacher to do better work. It is important that all
teachers realize clearly the significance of the supervisor’s work,
and that she avail herself of the help and coöperation which is thus
provided.
One of the functions of the supervisor is to criticize the work which
is being done by individual teachers. It is especially difficult
for some teachers to appreciate the purpose of such criticism, or
to avail themselves of the aid which is offered in this form. Let
us examine the different kinds of criticism which one may expect
to receive, and try to discover how to get the most out of this
instrument of supervision.
There are supervisors whose criticism is occasionally purely
negative. They come into the room, observe some of the work, and
remark, either at the time or later, that the work was good, or that
it was poor. It does not help one much, except in a feeling of good
will toward the supervisor, when told that work is well done; nor
is it very significant for future work that one’s efforts have been
condemned. When the supervisor indulges in this type of criticism,
the teacher has a right to ask him for the reasons which lead him to
praise or to condemn. If excellent work is to be repeated, then the
elements which have made for success should be pointed out. One may
try to repeat good work and fail miserably because the elements in
the excellent work which made for success have been overlooked in the
second effort. Likewise failure may occur, even though it has been
stamped as poor work, because the teacher fails to see the essential
weakness of her effort.
Most supervisors are able to find strength of some sort in the work
of every teacher. It may be worth while for the teacher at times
to ask for a discussion of the strong points in her work. This
constructive appreciative criticism may help her to receive with
open mind the destructive criticism which may be needed to bring
about the elimination of weakness. Any teacher should welcome the
criticism which frankly points out the deficiencies of her work and
suggests the remedies which should be applied. We all want to do our
best work. Unfortunately we cannot always see our teaching in true
perspective. The supervisor who comes in from the outside, as it
were, with a wide range of experience in teaching and in observing
teachers can often give the suggestion which will make work, not only
more efficient, but also more pleasant.
It is a good rule for both supervisor and teacher to wait until the
end of the day or even for two or three days after the visit before
the criticism is given. Snap judgments are apt to be wrong on both
sides. The supervisor needs time to analyze the situation carefully
in order to pick out the elements in the situation which are most
significant and to overlook that which is trivial. The teacher will
often be able to analyze her own work and to point out its defects,
if time is given her to think it over. If the teacher can discover
her own inefficiency, and if she is willing to talk frankly with
the supervisor concerning these difficulties, the work of criticism
will give satisfaction to both. A teacher has a right to ask for
an appointment with a supervisor for the discussion of her work.
Supervisors are, as a rule, only too willing to grant such a request.
Criticism has not fulfilled its mission, if it stops with discovering
to the teacher her strength and her weakness together with the
analysis of the situation which enables her to repeat successes and
avoid failures. A wide-awake teacher will be looking and asking for
suggestions concerning new kinds of work. Suggestive criticism opens
up the way for growth by giving the teacher the encouragement and
help which are needed to undertake the new or unusual type of work.
Many of the best teachers might have remained in the less efficient
group, had it not been for the help and inspiration which was
imparted by a wise supervisor.
School exhibits are another means sometimes employed by the
supervisory force to increase school efficiency. Here, again, the
teacher should realize that the purpose of the supervisor is not to
burden her with work, but rather to offer the help which may come
from an exchange of experiences. The school exhibit which is most
worth while does not require any special preparation of material
on the part of the teacher. The work regularly done by children
without corrections or refinement constitutes a true exhibit of the
results secured. Any other kind of an exhibit is merely a test of the
teacher’s ingenuity, her skill in masquerading under the names of her
children.
When a genuine exhibit of children’s work is brought together, it
affords to teachers and supervisors alike a wealth of suggestion
and help. The writer remembers visiting an exhibit of drawing and
constructive work in one of our large cities. The supervisors of
this work were in charge at regular hours each week. A very large
number of teachers came to see what was being done by other teachers
in their grade. A special feature of the exhibit was an abundance of
suggestions for the work of the next week provided by the supervisors
and taken from the work of previous years. The consultation between
supervisors and teachers concerning the work exhibited, and with
reference to the work both past and yet to be done, was free from
restraint and often lasted ten, fifteen, or even twenty minutes.
Needless to say, the results achieved in drawing and constructive
work in this city were far above the average. Similar exhibits of
work in English composition, arithmetic, some phases of the work in
literature, nature study, history, and geography are possible and
cannot fail to help the teacher who is anxious to improve her work.
Visiting the work of other teachers has one advantage not possessed
by the exhibit: it is possible to see not only the result but also
the methods which are employed in securing the product. A good
supervisor should be able to tell teachers where to go to see the
kind of work which is most helpful. Any teacher should welcome the
opportunity to see the work of a teacher who is strong where she is
weak. Random visiting is not worth much. What counts is a visit to a
teacher who has some help to offer, in order to satisfy a real need.
Often the most profitable visiting can be done within the system
in which the teacher works. Not infrequently the greatest help can
be secured from another teacher in the same building. Whenever or
wherever a teacher visits, the important thing is to look for the
strong points in the work. The teacher who goes for help will not be
disappointed; the one who looks for defects, who is hypercritical,
will not profit by the time used.
After a visit to a teacher whose work is known by the supervisor, a
conference may be held, or a report given by the visiting teacher. If
the visit is worth making, it is worth some further consideration.
It will help the teacher to talk over the visit with the supervisor
with particular reference to her own work. The elements of strength
in the work of the teacher visited can thus be determined, and the
modifications in the work of the visitor desired by the supervisor be
made definite.
Examinations have from time immemorial been used by supervisors to
determine the success of school work. Teachers not infrequently
seem to feel that they are an unnecessary hardship imposed without
sufficient justification, whether teacher or pupils are considered.
Let us inquire what examinations should mean to the teacher. First
of all, it may be worth while to remember that the command of some
knowledge, and the ability to use it when demanded, should form a
part of the equipment of children who are being educated. It is
well at times to stop and discover how much children know, and what
facility they show in using their knowledge. It is a shock sometimes
to discover that a room full of enthusiastic, well-behaved children
do not know their multiplication tables, cannot add, subtract, or
divide without making many mistakes, cannot write an acceptable
paragraph because of mistakes in form which they should have mastered
long ago, do not know on which side of the Ohio River to locate the
state of Ohio; but that is just what is apt to happen in a school
where examinations are never given.
Success or failure in an examination should not be all-important
to children, nor should it lead to undue praise or condemnation
of teachers. The wise teacher will try to find in the results of
the examination evidence of the deficiencies of her teaching. In
the light of the work done by the children she can tell where she
can depend upon their knowledge, what part of the work needs to be
reviewed, which children need special help. An examination should
be a taking of stock which will enable teacher and pupil to do more
and better work, because each is acquainted with the needs of the
situation better than before.
Teachers’ meetings are worth just about what each individual
teacher is willing to put into them. The teacher who comes to a
meeting with her problems, willing to acknowledge that she needs
help, and anxious to get it will not find these gatherings dull or
uninteresting. If the meeting is organized for study, as is done in
connection with reading circle work, the meeting can be transformed
from a perfunctory recitation of the ideas of the book into a live
professional discussion, by the activity of two or three earnest
teachers. If the meetings are not good, individuals are at fault; if
these teachers become active, if they try to make the most out of
these discussions, their attitude will change.
One of the best types of teachers’ meetings is centered round the
actual teaching of children by a member of the group, to be followed
by discussion of the work done. There is no more certain way to grow
professionally than to be willing to demonstrate your theory by
practice, or to discuss the work which is done by other members of
the group. In several of our cities these lessons, taught sometimes
by the supervisors and at other times by the teachers themselves,
have become a regular feature of the year’s work. The teacher who
is most anxious to grow will be the first to avail herself of the
opportunity to teach such a lesson. Supervisors sometimes hesitate
to suggest this kind of a program for teachers’ meetings, because
teachers are so unwilling to do their part in making the work a
success. It is a poor professional spirit which is not strong enough
to lead a teacher to accept the criticism of her fellow teachers,
when she knows that therein lies the possibility of growth. Any group
of teachers who will voluntarily participate in such work will find
that the teachers’ meeting, instead of being a bore, will come to be
looked upon as the brightest spot in the whole week, because of the
help and inspiration which is derived from the hour’s work.
Institutes were once looked upon as places where teachers came to
be entertained, or, possibly, to be inspired. There was a time when
the best institutes were conducted on the “pouring in” plan. A
lecturer, or several lecturers, dispensed the truth, and teachers
sat in their places, supposedly drinking deep draughts from these
fountains of wisdom. It is strange that all of the theory of teaching
which was dispensed did not suggest that the manner of conducting
the institute was wrong. In our best institutes to-day teachers
participate in discussion, study and recite from books, undertake
the revision or organization of courses of study in coöperation
with their supervisors; in short, the institute has become a school
for professional study. In such an institute, as in teachers’
meetings, those who come with real problems, anxious to get help,
find the week or two all too short. A group of teachers anxious to
grow professionally can, in most cases, secure the coöperation of
supervisors in transforming an institute which is organized on the
old basis.
If a teacher’s supervisors are not helping her, it may be well to
inquire whose fault it is. The teacher who meets the supervisor
halfway, the one who invites criticism, who avails herself of the
help and suggestion which may come from exhibits, visiting, teachers’
meetings, and institutes will, in all probability, grow strong enough
to help others. She may in her turn be called upon to accept the
responsibilities, the trials, and the joys of a supervisor.[29]
FOR COLLATERAL READING
The Seventh Yearbook of the National Society for the Scientific
Study of Education.
_Exercises._
1. What is the purpose of supervision?
2. Give illustrations of work done by the supervisors whom you have
found most helpful.
3. Name the types of criticism. Give illustrations of each type
from your own experience.
4. What is wrong with the teacher who resents adverse criticism?
5. Why wait a day or two after the supervisor has visited you
before asking for criticism on your work?
6. If the supervisor does not volunteer criticism, what would you
do?
7. Have you ever attended a school exhibit which has helped you in
your work? What kind of work should be sent to the exhibit? Why
insist upon a continuous exhibit rather than one that lasts only a
week?
8. How can you hope to get the most out of a day’s visiting? What
help would you expect from the supervisor?
9. Of what value are examinations to you?
10. When a teacher says that she can get nothing from the teachers’
meetings, what is wrong?
11. What help would you expect to get from the observation and
discussion of actual class teaching? Have you ever taught a class
for observers?
12. What suggestions would you make for the improvement of your
institute? Do you think changes could be made if teachers wanted
to gain the most possible during the week or more devoted to the
institute?
13. What is wrong in a situation where teachers complain that their
supervisors are hard taskmasters?
14. If supervision is to make for professional growth, what
contribution must the teacher make?
15. How do you explain the attitude of the teacher who says she
wants no supervision?