Contribution of clinical supervision towards effective teacher performance among Early Childhood Development (ECD) teachers in Uganda. a case of three schools in Rubaga division

Abstract

This descriptive qualitative research study examined the extent to which clinical supervision contributes towards effective teacher performance among ECD teachers in Uganda, taking a case of three schools in Rubaga Division. It was grounded on Proctor’s model of clinical supervision (1995) and The Theory of change, popularised by Anderson (2005) & Weiss (1995). The study was guided by three objectives that is; to find out the perceptions of school administrators about utilization of clinical supervision in ECD centers in Uganda, to analyze the contribution of clinical supervision towards improvement of teachers’ pedagogical practices in ECD and to assess the contribution of clinical supervision towards provision of quality guidance and counseling skills among ECD teachers. Data was collected using interview guides, focus group discussions, document review and lesson observation from fifteen participants recruited from three ECD centers. Three of these were school administrators while twelve were teachers. Two teachers in each school underwent four sessions of clinical supervision while the other two had administrative supervision at the beginning and end of data collection which acted as a base line survey. Findings indicate that school administrators are willing to embrace clinical supervision if trained on how to use it, and to a greater extent, teachers clinically supervised improved in many aspects of their pedagogical practices as well as guidance and counselling skills as compared to their counterparts monitored through administrative supervision. It is therefore concluded that clinical supervision significantly contributes to effective teacher performance in ECD Centres and thereby recommend that administrators should incorporate it in their day-to-day practice.