Abstract:

Background. In the national education supervision system, there are two different groups of supervisors, ministry supervisors and the education supervisors. Ministry supervisors mainly carry out the services of supervision and evaluation of the central organization and all its related units; secondary education level schools/institutions and the teachers and administrators employed at these institutions; in addition to guidance, professional assistance, on-the-job training, inspections and investigations. Ministry supervisors conduct general supervision, teacher-personnel supervision, examination supervision, course and seminar supervision, as well as inspection and investigation activities. Meanwhile, education supervisors perform the same supervisory services and evaluations for elementary level schools and teachers. Perception has a significant place in the successful execution of supervisory services, because the teachers react to the supervision schedules based on their perceptions of the supervisor and his status. Similarly, the supervisors also tend to execute their functions depending on their perceptions of teachers, themselves and their own roles. These perceptions were observed to be influential in the development of images. In the twenty-first century, the concepts of “image” and “identity” have emerged as a common field of study in administrative science. Purpose. This study is aimed at determining the present and ideal images of supervisors for teachers and principals, to caricaturize the images and display them visually. The goal of caricaturizing is to catch the attention of practicing supervisors by visualizing the perceptions of teachers and principals in a humorous way, and to assist them in developing a favorable image. Method. In this study, designed with a qualitative research approach, “content analyses” have been made and phenomenology design used. The work group for the research was composed of education employees, selected by one of the appropriate sampling methods fit for qualitative research, the maximum variety sampling method. Within the scope of the project, a total of 51 teachers and principals were interviewed, 26 of them at elementary schools and 25 at high schools. A semi-constructed interview form was used by the researcher to characterize the perceptions of supervisors by teachers and principals. Of the 51 education employees who were asked for their opinions, 23 of them wished to fill in the written form. A variation in the theme of the images was not observed between those who completed the written form and those who gave their opinions verbally. The data for the research was collected immediately following inspections conducted by ministry supervisors. The interviews were held between December 2010 and January 2011. The design of the study was qualitative. The data was characterized to itself. During the analysis process, the interview records were decoded and analyzed. The data obtained from the interviews was approximately 40 pages in length. The opinions of the education employees were examined by content analyses. In the analyses of the opinions, statements were grouped and classified according to their similarities. In the analyses, coding the education employees whose opinions had been taken and their statements revealed certain themes. The data obtained through the interview technique was digitized and frequency values were determined. Upon examining the differences between the images that teachers and principals had of ministry and education supervisors, it was determined that nearly all the coded images of education supervisors, by the teachers and principals employed at elementary schools, were negative. Findings and Conclusions. It was observed that more than half of the coded images of ministry supervisors by the teachers and principals employed at secondary schools were positive. While there is a general unfavorable image related to supervisors, it was also observed that the positive image of the ministry supervisors was four times that of the education supervisors. Examination of the images shows that the supervisors' tendency to hunt for shortcomings is found to be particularly unsettling, and that they are expected to be more constructive. The teachers and the principals initially defined the ideal supervisor according to their attitudes and conduct. Then, they defined the ideal image from the professional perspective. Finally, they defined physical outlook. The studies conclusions demonstrate that a group of education employees (teachers and principals) have a negative image of another group (supervisors), even though both groups are serving the same objective. Caricaturized supervisor images may be used as a pedagogic tool during in-service training seminars. The actual and the ideal images of the supervisors, as perceived by teachers and principals, can be compared and presented to school principals in a visual manner. The caricaturized images also may be used as mirrors for the supervisors. The study's conclusions may be discussed in relevant post-graduate programs. Taking the conclusions of the research into consideration, the supervisors may converse with teachers and principals to determine the root causes of these unfavorable images, and involve them in activities that will develop more favorable ones.

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