چکیده:
Almost all language schools in Iran enforce teacher supervision with the purpose of promoting good teaching practices and higher standards of quality education. Despite its widespread practice, the body of research on language teacher supervision in Iranian EFL setting is scant. The present qualitative study explored language school managers’ attitudes toward EFL teacher supervision in Iranian language schools. Based on a researcher-developed protocol, semi-structured interviews were conducted with seven language school managers from Tehran and Karaj, Iran, whose managing experiences ranged from 5 to 18 years, with the purpose of identifying their attitudes, experiences, and challenges regarding supervision. The interviews drew upon emergent methodology to categorize the interviewees’ value-laden comments into five major attitudinal themes of becoming a supervisor, the requirements and responsibilities of a teacher-supervisor, evaluating a supervisor’s performance, challenges regarding teacher supervision, and supporting supervisors. The findings revealed that there are not any transparent criteria and rubrics for language school managers to draw upon to select teacher-supervisors, and supervisors are mostly selected based on their teaching potentials, experience, and merits. Moreover, the findings demonstrated that apart from observing classes and providing feedback, too many other responsibilities are assigned to supervisors in Iranian language schools. To improve the ongoing supervisory practices, the interviewees suggested the need for the development of transparent criteria and rubrics for supervisor selection.
خلاصه ماشینی:
Teacher supervision is a significant and fundamental part of language teachers’ professional development, and the supervisor should improve the teaching process and the effectiveness of training without having a judgmental attitude.
The interviews drew upon emergent methodology to categorize the interviewees’ value-laden comments into five major attitudinal themes namely, becoming a supervisor with two subthemes of characteristics of a good and ideal supervisor and the criteria managers draw upon to select a supervisor, the requirements and responsibilities of a teacher- supervisor, evaluating a supervisor’s performance, language schools’ challenges regarding teacher supervision, with one subtheme of resolving possible organizational conflicts, and supporting supervisors with a subtheme of establishing rapport and positive relationship with the teacher supervisor.
” Furthermore, M4, MA in TEFL with 10 years of managing experience, pointed out that his language school appreciates a supervisor who: “helps teachers utilize teaching methods that are better suited to the demands of the curriculum, develops good and positive relationship with teachers and other staff, serves as a model for teachers and attempts to improve the quality of education.
Furthermore, regarding a supervisor’s responsibilities, language school managers described that a supervisor must observe classrooms, evaluate the effectiveness of teachers’ performance, conduct placement exams, interviews, and meetings, analyze problems, identify teachers’ strengths and weaknesses, transfer knowledge, interview new students, recruit and promote teachers, arrange their classes, develop syllabus, curriculum and tests, clearly communicate instructions and information, provide teachers with modern teaching methods, discuss complaints among teachers, students and parents, keep required records and documents, and report absences and the issues related to teachers’ code of conduct.
In this regard, Allwright (2014) stated that, in language schools and educational contexts, the teacher- supervisors are required to monitor the instructors’ performance in order to develop their teaching methodology.