Refocusing the Purposes of Teacher Supervision

Contrary to Twain's decree to readers of his highly prominent and poignant book, all readers of this chapter are challenged to become “meaning makers.” You are encouraged to actually use this information and implement these ideas. In this way, it is hoped that supervision will improve at all levels to further the personal success of each school administrator and teacher in the noble quest to produce student learning. This is what this chapter is all about—its motive, its moral orientation—the plot, if you will.

Teacher morale is at an all-time low and attrition at an all-time high. This chapter exposes the dinosaurs that continue to drive current supervisory practices, with the result of unacceptable workplace conditions for teachers.

To help refocus supervision, the chapter includes a review of current research on teacher variables, and teacher instructional practices related directly to improved student learning are provided. Delving into the depths of workplace quality, we investigate flow theory as a new overriding focus for administrators as they attempt to improve conditions for their teachers. Flow is described, research results are provided, and implications for how school administrators can build workplace conditions more conducive to teacher flow experiences are detailed.

Introduction and Overview

Einstein used the term cosmological constant to describe his conjecture that all of space is [Page 431]bubbling with an invisible form of energy that creates a mutual repulsion between objects normally attracted to each other—negative gravity. Scientists recently discovered proof of this theory by viewing exploding stars (Glanz, 2001). Negative gravity describes the current gravitational status between educators and schools. For decades, teaching and administrative jobs attracted high numbers of applicants. These people were driven by a powerful desire to do the job, and they believed they would be successful—they could help young people achieve. They found satisfaction in doing so. But teacher satisfaction levels have plummeted. Recent studies show that teachers' desire to stay in teaching and their overall satisfaction and morale have dropped dramatically over the past two decades (Perie & Baker, 1997; Public Agenda Foundation, 2000; Scholastic, Inc., 2000). This is education's negative gravity: schools and teachers repulsing each other. Schools repulse teachers because of poor working conditions, and teachers depart due to the fact that they find so little success in achieving their noble and No. 1 goal—helping students learn.

Few can argue against the fact that budget shortages and the pressures of high-stakes testing result in great pressure on educational systems and teachers. These forces derive their power from national and state governments and are therefore outside of the schools' control. My conjecture is that school administrators must focus on what they can control. They can control and ensure high-quality curriculum and instructional design and delivery. They also can and must produce high-quality teacher workplace environments. Variations in the quality of curriculum and instruction are a result not so much of funding levels as of management's lack of focus and commitment to them and to the concomitant supervising practices.

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