Al Hamad, Rasheed Hamad (1989) Improving science supervision in the Kuwaiti school system. University of Southampton, Doctoral Thesis.
Abstract
This study aimed at providing suggestions for a programme which might qualify the nominees for the position of supervisor of science on the basis of competence required for the role of supervision. Currently there exists no such programme in Kuwait at the Ministry of Education, or at the Faculty of Education, University of Kuwait. It is customary to appoint senior teachers on the basis of their seniority, the evaluative grades in their annual reports and an interview in which evaluation is based on impressionistic and subjective criteria. Those who are selected usually start functioning as supervisors without having been exposed to any systematized preparation, introductory orientation, or a specialized training course. This study reviews the state-of-the-art of education in Kuwait in general, and supervision in particular. The latter is specifically with regard to science supervision, tracing the growth of this vocation from its beginning to the present. An international review of the literature on the roles of supervisors is also undertaken. Groups of teachers, senior teachers, headteachers and supervisors were met in a series of discussion groups to elucidate opinions about the nature of current supervisory practices. A questionnaire was also administered to samples of science teachers, senior teachers and supervisors concerning objectives, functions, and techniques of supervision, as well as the constraints on, and feasible suggestions for the desired development. An attitude scale towards the profession of supervision, and supervisors was also applied to a sample of teachers and supervisors and a sample of supervisors were asked to keep daily observation notes (diaries). The data from these sources were analysed and a schedule of supervisory competencies constructed and an orientation programme devised. The orientation programme was administered to a sample of supervisory staff and the impact of it assessed by comparing attitudes of teachers and achievement of pupils in two groups of schools, one supervised by supervisors who had taken the orientation programme and the other supervised by those who had not. As a result of the various information generating approaches adopted in this study, the findings pointed to the necessity of preparing and proposing an integrated programme to train and prepare competent nominees for the responsibility of science supervision in Kuwait.
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