Postmodernists have criticized modern conceptions of supervision as bureaucratic, hierarchical, and oppressive. This paper asserts that the postmodern proclivity to completely eschew expert supervision, evaluation, and judicious use of directive supervision is misguided, potentially limiting, and dangerous. The paper argues that collegial…

The field of instructional supervision in schools has a history of being misunderstood and devalued, having been beset by problems of definition and purpose. This paper examines the history of supervision and its ties with educational administration, and describes implications for supervision and administration. There is a history of tension…

Pedagogical correctness "is characterized by a set of 'right' and often avant-garde beliefs about how the curriculum and schools should be structured." When supervisors avoid supervisory methods that are considered not "pedagogically correct" or fail to adopt practices considered incorrect, instructional improvement is likely to be compromised.…

This paper proposes that the Council of Professors of Instructional Supervision (COPIS) start a journal devoted to the study and practice of instructional supervision and examines the history of "The Journal of Educational Method" to support the contention that the proposed new journal could thrive. An opening section argues that the…

Despite burgeoning literature that acknowledges the importance of the principalship in achieving and maintaining school effectiveness, principals have been depicted unfavorably in film and television as insecure autocrats, petty bureaucrats, and classic buffoons. This paper presents findings of a study that not only catalogued images of principals…

In the early twentieth century, supervisors began to move toward increasing professionalism in their positions. In the late nineteenth century, supervision was characterized by bureaucratic methods in a centralized school management system. Research reveals that after the turn of the century, there was a concerted effort by supervisors to…

The development of public school supervisors has been varied and complex. Examined are the factors that led supervisors, in the early twentieth century, to move away from autocratic and bureaucratic methods and adopt more professional standards. (SI)

Supervision as a field, in the main, remains susceptible and thus vulnerable to various forces, ideological and otherwise, that constrain its ability to play a significant role in instructional improvement and thus in educational leadership. Adherence to inspectional and fault finding supervision under the guise of standards-based and other…

A persistent problem for supervisors and curriculum workers has been the unresolved tension between the demands of the organization and the drive for professionalism. Emerging in the late nineteenth century, the problem was greatly influenced by the transformation of the school system along bureaucratic lines. Supervisors and curriculum workers…