An ethnographic or anthropological perspective is useful for the reexamination of the assumptions and taken-for-granted nature of the practice of supervision. An indepth survey of literature on supervisors illustrates supervisory roles and the existence of a separate "supervisor culture". Specifically, the relationship between novice teachers and…

Findings of a study that examined novice supervisors' understandings of supervision are presented in this paper. Data were collected from 110 graduate-level students enrolled in an introductory supervision class. Four themes emerged from students' definitions of supervision-domains, relationships, traits, and tasks. The most surprising finding was…

Ethnographic methods and conversation analysis were used to examine five teacher-supervisor conferences and their contexts. Passive, collaborative, and adversarial teacher conference roles were constructed in the conference process. Implications for supervision, educational leadership and reform, and teacher recruitment and placement are…