English abstract
The purpose of this study is to analyze the current status of educational supervision in general education in the Sultanate of Oman as perceived by educational supervisors and teachers. The study aims, as well, to identify the effect of a number of factors (like job level, experience, gender, academic qualifications and school level) on these perceptions. Furthermore, the study aims at developing recommendations to promote different aspects of the current status of educational supervisions in general education in the Sultanate of Oman. These recommendations were to be derived from current conceptual trends. The sample of this study consists of 507 respondents, divided into two groups: 238 male and female educational supervisors, and 270 male and female teachers representing different stages in general education, in Directorates of Education in: Muscat Governorate, North Batina Region and Dakhiliah Region. The study employs a questionnaire to identify current status of educational supervision in general education in the Sultanate of Oman, after testing its reliability and validity. It is made up of 60 items distributed over three dimensions (organization, functions and styles) of educational supervision. To answer the questions of this study, means, standard deviations, mode, T-test and One-Way ANOVA followed by Scheffe test or LSD post-hoc comparisons were employed wherever F-value was statistically significant. The results of this study reveal that the degree of conducting educational supervision activities in general education in Sultanate of Oman as perceived by supervisors and teachers was above average at all three dimensions. Teachers and supervisors agreed on the degree in which supervision activities are conducted except for the functions of educational supervision. For this dimension, teachers' perceptions were somewhat lower than average. The results also indicate that there were statistically significant differences at the 0.001 level among mean values of the degree of conducting supervision as perceived by supervisors and teachers on all three dimensions. All differences were in favor of supervisors. In addition, the results of this study indicate that there were statistically significant differences at the 0.05 level among mean values of conducting educational supervision as perecieved by teachers on all three dimensions, due to their experience, and all were in favor of those with extensive experience. With regard to the experience of supervisors, the results indicate that there were no statistically significant differences at the 0.05 level among mean values of conducting supervision as perecieved by supervisors on all three dimensions, due to their experience. With regard to the teachers' gender, the results indicate that there were statistically significant differences at the 0.05 level among mean values of conducting supervision as perecieved by male and female teachers on all three dimensions, and all were in favor of females. With regard to academic qualifications of teachers, the results indicate that there were statistically significant differences, at the 0.01 level, among mean values of conducting supervision as perecieved by teachers on all three dimensions, due to their academic qualifications. All differences were in favor of those who had the highest qualifications. Regarding school-level of teachers, the results indicate that there were statistically significant differences at the 0.05 level among mean values of conducting supervision as perecieved by teachers on the dimension of functions of educational supervision only, due to their school level. Finally, relying on the results and the current conceptual trends of educational supervision, some recommendations and suggestions were drawn to promote the current status of educational supervision in general education in the Sultanate of Oman.
