DOI: 10.36347/sjahss.2016.v04i05.007

Pages: 504-509

Supervision plays a critical role in ensuring that organisations achieve their goals and objectives. We cannot talk of quality and standards without examining the tools and strategies that contribute to the improvement and maintenance of these standards. One such key component of the matrix is supervision. As a result, a number of supervision models have been advanced. These include clinical supervision, self-assessment supervision, connoisseurship supervision, collegial supervision, peer supervision and inquiry-based supervision among other models of supervision. The paper examines the supervision models used in Chegutu Education District of Mashonaland, Zimbabwe. Data was collected at ten primary schools in the district. Data was collected from twenty primary school teachers and ten primary school heads who were randomly selected. The study used the mixed methodology and the case study design. Data was collected through face-to-face interviews and structured questionnaires. School heads and teachers described the nature of supervision common at their schools. From the responses the researcher was able to categorise the different models prevalent in the ten selected schools. The study observed that the school heads did not regularly supervise teachers in the practice of teaching and teachers had a negative attitude towards supervision. This was due to the models of supervision commonly used in the schools, which tended to focus on the weaknesses of the teacher rather than the development of the teacher and the benefits that accrue to the pupils. It was observed that there was too much focus on paper work in the form of records. The study also observed that there was no common model in use in the school. The models used were a cocktail of different models of supervision, dominated by elements of inspection. The study recommends that school heads and teachers should be exposed to different models of supervision. This can be done through workshops and staff developm