List of Common Organisational Roles of a Supervisor

Role of a supervisor can be described as follows:

(1) He expedites the institutional processes and development.

(2) He helps in establishing and maintaining communication in the institution.

(3) He serves as liaison with people who have academic and/or financial resources for help or with people who face similar problems.

(4) He stimulates people to share ideas and resources as well as encourages and supports them to try innovations.

(5) He facilitates implementation of decisions and/or agreements emerging from evaluation sessions.

(6) He facilitates problem-solving and recommends resources that may help in the search for solutions.

(7) He provides expertise in academic matters.

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(8) He promotes growth through assuming responsibility and creativity rather than through dependency and conformity.

In other words, a supervisor’s role is that of supporting, assisting and sharing, rather than directing.

According to Sergiovanni (1977), a supervisor needs to show a high concern for:

(a) Curriculum and teaching objectives.

(b) Educational program content, co-ordination and scope.

(c) Alternatives and options.

(d) Curriculum and teaching innovations.

(e) Structured knowledge.

(f) Grouping and scheduling patterns.

(g) Unit and lesson planning.

(h) Evaluating and selecting learning materials.

(i) Patterns of teacher and student classroom influence.

(j) Developing and evaluating educational encounters.

(k) Teaching styles, methods and procedures.

(l) Classroom learning climates.

(m) Teacher, student and program evaluation.

A major distinction between an administrator’s role and a supervisor’s role is three-fold in nature.

1. A principal can manage quite well with just being an educational programme leader whereas a supervisor should also be an expert instructional leader.

2. A Supervisor must be a good teacher as well as a good administrator. He should be clear about the perspectives of a teacher and that of an administrator. He should be able to understand the problems faced by both the teachers and the principal.

He should bridge the gap between the teachers and the principal without alienating either side. And this is a tall order! (because very after) teachers have a limited view of their tasks, organizational objectives and problems and are unsympathetic or even hostile towards the principal).

3. He mainly relies on functional authority (rather than formal authority of a principal) derived from his expertise on educational and instructional knowledge. Very often, a supervisor gains support of other teachers simply because he is admired as a person.