University of Education, Winneba Exploring The

University of Education,Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, WINNEBA EXPLORING THE COMPETENCIES OF BASIC SCHOOL SUPERVISORS IN MATHEMATICS: THE CASE OF KWAHU EAST DISTRICT OF THE EASTERN REGION AHMED TIJANI 2018 University of Education,Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION, WINNEBA EXPLORING THE COMPETENCIES OF BASIC SCHOOL SUPERVISORS IN MATHEMATICS: THE CASE OF KWAHU EAST DISTRICT OF THE EASTERN REGION AHMED TIJANI (8130110001) A Thesis In The Department of MATHEMATICS EDUCATION, Faculty of SCIENCE EDUCATION, Submitted to the SCHOOL OF GRADUATE STUDIES, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the award of the degree of MASTER OF PHILOSOPHY (MATHEMATICS EDUCATION) in the university of Education, Winneba. SEPTEMBER, 2019 University of Education,Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh DECLARATION CANDIDATE’S DECLARATION I, Ahmed Tijani, declare that this thesis, with the exception of quotations and references contained in published works which have all been identified and duly acknowledged, is entirely my own original work, and it has not been submitted, either in part or whole, for another degree elsewhere. SIGNATURE:……..………………………. DATE:………...…………………………… SUPERVISOR’S DECLARATION I hereby declare that the preparation and presentation of this work was supervised in accordance with the guidelines for supervision of thesis as laid down by the University of Education, Winneba. Supervisor’s Name: Asso. Prof. Michael J. NABIE Signature:…………………………… Date:……….………………………… ii University of Education,Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh DEDICATION This thesis is dedicated to my father, Alhaji Alfah Cidi, my uncle, Alhaji Salfu Soalley and my grandfather, Alhaji Ahmed-Tijani Abdul-Rahman for their support and encouragement during the most difficult period of my life. iii University of Education,Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh ACKNOWLEDGEMENT I would like to express my deepest appreciation to a number of people who have supported me throughout my study. Second degree cannot be obtained without the sacrifice and support of other persons. My gratitude goes to my supervisor, Asso. Prof. M. J. Nabie, whose scholarly insight, patience and academic rigor helped me develop a better understanding of issues involved in this work. I am grateful to Cyril A. Titty and to my former headmaster, Mr. J. Y. Boafo, for encouraging me to pursue this course. My appreciations also go to the Kwahu – East District Director of Education, the Assistant Director in charge of supervision and monitoring, the circuit supervisors, the headteachers and the mathematics teachers of the Junior High Schools in the Kwahu – East District for their tolerance and willingness with which they assisted me throughout the writing of this thesis. iv University of Education,Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh TABLE OF CONTENT CONTENT Page DECLARATION ii DEDICATION iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENT iv TABLE OF CONTENT v LIST OF TABLES ix LIST OF FIGURE x ABSTRACT xi CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION 1 1.0 Overview: 1 1.1 Background 1 1.2 Statement of the Problem 5 1.3 Purpose of the Study 8 1.4 Research Objectives 8 1.5 Research Questions 9 1.6 Hypotheses 9 1.7 Significance of the Study 10 1.8 Delimitation 11 1.9 Limitations of the Study 11 1.10 Organization of the Study 12 v University of Education,Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh CHAPTER TWO: LITERATURE REVIEW 14 2.1 Overview 14 2.2 Conceptual Framework 14 2.3 The Concept of Competence 18 2.4 Mathematical Competence 19 2.5 Concept of Supervision 22 2.6 Types of Supervision 28 2.6.1 Autocratic or Authoritarian Supervision 30 2.6.2 Laissez-faire or Free-rein Supervision 31 2.6.3 Democratic Supervision 31 2.6.4 Bureaucratic Supervision 32 2.6.5 Companionable Supervision 32 2.6.6 Synergistic Supervision 32 2.6.7 Traditional Supervision 33 2.6.8 Clinical Supervision 34 2.7 Educational Stakeholders View of Supervision 34 2.8 Qualities of a Good Instructional Supervisor 37 2.9 Challenges and Problems of Instructional Supervision in Ghana 38 CHAPTER THREE: METHODOLOGY 41 3.0 Overview 41 3.1 Research Design 41 3.2 Research Setting 43 vi University of Education,Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh 3.3 Population 46 3.4 Sample 47 3.4 Sampling Techniques 48 3.5 Research Instruments 50 3.5.1 The Questionnaire 50 3.5.1.1 Teacher Questionnaire 51 3.5.1.2 Supervisor Questionnaire 52 3.6 Pilot Study 53 3.6.1 Validity 54 3.6.2 Reliability 55 3.7 Data Collection Procedure 56 3.8 Data Analysis 57 3.9. Ethical Consideration 62 3.9.1 Confidentiality 62 3.9.2 Anonymity 63 CHAPTER FOUR: RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 64 4.0 Overview: 64 4.2 Demographic Characteristics of the Participants 65 4.3 Findings related to Research Questions 68 Research Question 1 68 Research Question 2 79 Research Question 3 87 vii University of Education,Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh Research Question 4 94 Hypothesis Testing 99 CHAPTER FIVE: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 109 5.1 Summary 109 5.2 Summary of Key Findings 111 5.3 Conclusion 118 5.4 Recommendation 119 5.5 Suggestions for Further Study 121 REFERENCES 122 APPENDIX A 132 APPENDIX B 137 viii University of Education,Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh LIST OF TABLES BECE Results in Mathematics, Kwahu East 1: 7 2: Summary of educational institutions in the Kwahu East District 45 3: Demographic Characteristics of Kwahu East District Mathematics Teacher Participants (Total = 150) 65 4: Demographic characteristics of Kwahu East District Mathematics Supervisors (n = 35) 67 5: Descriptive Statistics of Mathematics Teachers’ Perceptions of the Competency Level (first group) of Supervisors in Kwahu East District. 70 6: Descriptive Statistics of Mathematics Supervisors’ Perceptions of their Competency Level (first group) in ensuring teaching and learning of mathematics 80 7: Descriptive Statistics and Rank of Mathematics Supervisors’ Competent of ensuring teaching and learning of Mathematics 85 8: Descriptive Statistics of Teachers’ Perceptions of the Various Supervision Styles of Supervisors in Kwahu East District 89 9: Descriptive Statistics of Challenges Facing Supervisors in Kwahu East District 95 10: Descriptive statistics of mathematics teachers by gender 105 11: Independent-samples t-test of Basic School Mathematics Teachers’ perception of styles of supervision practices. 105 12: Descriptive statistics of respondents’ perceptions on supervisors’ competency 100 13: Independent-samples t-test of respondents’ perceptions on supervisors’ competency 102 ix University of Education,Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh LIST OF FIGURE 1: A visual representation-the “KOM flower”-of the eight mathematical competencies (Source: Niss & Jensen, 2002, p. 46) 15 2: District Map of Kwahu East 44 3: The neutral position on the five-point Likert-type scale 61 x University of Education,Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh ABSTRACT The study sought to explore and examine the competence basic school mathematics supervisors possess in ensuring effective mathematics education delivery in the Ghanaian basic schools. A cross sectional descriptive survey research design was undertaken with an adopted conceptual framework from Niss and Jensen (2002). The conceptual framework enumerates the kinds of competence expected of a mathematics student, teacher or supervisors. The sample for the study comprised mathematics teachers and supervisors (n = 185) in the Kwahu East District. Multistage sampling techniques which included convenient, purposive and simple random sampling techniques were employed to sample the participants. The instruments used to gather data for the study were self-structured questionnaires. The data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and independent sampled t-test. The findings revealed that the mathematics teachers viewed most of their instructional supervisors as not competent enough to guide them to achieve the mathematics curriculum goal. The supervisors, on the other hand were of the view that they were very competent on all the parameters used in this study. The hypothesis tested on the difference of the claims of both mathematics teachers and supervisors indicated a significant difference. It also emerged from the study that most supervisors in the district employ the democratic style of supervision. Again, it was evident that a number of challenges were militating against the effective delivery of instructional supervision. Among others, the study concluded that to some extent the supervisors were averagely competent but needed more help to improve their performance. It was concluded again that the supervisors employ modern recommended styles of supervision in the face of many challenges. Therefore, the study recommended among others that training institutions should organize regular workshops, pre-service and in- service training programs for supervisors on desired competencies of modern-day instructional supervisor. Furthermore, it is recommended that Ghana Education Service should provide training for supervisors on modern day supervision styles as part of their induction process after their appointments. Finally, stakeholders of education must put their ‘shoulders to the wheel’ to ensure that they provide the necessary support to the basic schools supervisors to ensure effectiveness. xi University of Education,Winneba http://ir.uew.edu.gh CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION 1.0 Overview This chapter is the introductory section of the study which presents the general background of the study, statement of the problem, purpose of the study, research objectives, research questions, significance of the study, delimitations and limitations of the study and the organizational plan of the study. 1.1 Background An educated population is a vital resource for national growth. Improvement in standards demands increasing need for qualified human resources, which in turn requires improvement in the quality of education. A fundamental subject which has the potential of adding value to the quality of a country’s human resource is mathematics. Mathematics is one of the core subjects of study at the Junior High School (JHS) level whose importance in industry and technology cannot be underestimated.

Load more