Teacher Perceptions on the Effectiveness of the Turkish Cypriot Supervision System

Berna Yılmazoglu Ozdoga: Chief Supervisor (Phd Student): Near East University,

TRNC

Zehra Altınay Gazi: Ass. Prof. Near East University, TRNC

Abstract: Today’s global and competitive environment requires educational authorities to take a more closer look at their teaching-learning and supervision systems if they aim to have quality teachers and learners. Supervision is the key element in education which yields to quality in teaching and learning activities. During the transition from industrial to the information society, like all other institutions, educational institutions evolved themselves in order to adapt to the requirements of the 21st century and to give quality service. Educational authorities, likewise, have updated their teaching and supervision systems so as to raise quality teachers and learners. Like elsewhere in the world, Turkish Cypriot Supervision System has gone through similar phases and adopted a more modern approach. With the implementation of the new law of supervision in 2006 the paradigms have shifted from controlling to mentoring and the notion of supervision has changed from a source of threat and fear to a source of guidance and support for professional growth. In line with this transformation, their names also changed from ‘inspectors’ to ‘supervisors’ because as outlined by Tyagi (2010), inspection is a top-down approach which focuses on the assessment and evaluation of school improvement based in stated standards, whereas supervision focus on providing guidance, support and continuous assessment to teachers for their professional development and improvement in their teaching- learning process .

However, the lack of supportive legislative regulations and the problems faced in application are the main hindrances on the effectiveness of the TRNC supervision system. The primary concern of this paper is to have a closer look at Turkish Cypriot Supervision System and get the views of teachers concerning the effectiveness of the current system and to recieve first hand information on their preferred model. The study adopted quantitative research method and the researcher applied a survey containing 42 questions prepared on Likert scale. The participants involved 235 teachers (primary, high school and vocational school). Teachers expressed their views on teacher appraisal, guidance and mentoring, professional development, supervisor-teacher relationship and classroom observation. The findings of the study revealed the fact that the current supervision system, apart from supervisor and teacher relationship, and classroom observation, is unable to meet the expectations of the teachers. All stakeholders (teachers, the inspectorate and the policy makers) are expected to benefit from the findings in order to amend the pitfalls and deficiencies of the system.

Key words: Supervision, Turkish Cypriot Supervision System, teacher appraisal, supervisor-teacher relationship, mentoring, professional development, classroom observation,