Coaching and Mentoring as a Teaching Supervision Approach in Secondary School

Abstract

Teaching supervision is an effective assessment tool to ensure effective teaching and learning in the classroom. Effective teaching supervision refers to the appropriate approaches taken by supervisors to supervise teachers in the classroom. In this light, the coaching and mentoring approach is a form of teaching supervision that increases the effectiveness of teaching supervision in schools. However, this approach requires an in-depth understanding of aspects related to coaching and mentoring. Thus, this study aims to examine the implementation of coaching and mentoring as a teaching supervision practice among Secondary School principals. This study focuses on two main objectives, first, examining supervisors’ understanding of coaching and mentoring, and second, identifying the extent of supervisors’ readiness towards implementing the coaching and mentoring approach as a teaching supervision practice. This study adopted the qualitative exploratory research design and involved eight samples selected by purposive sampling. Interviews, observation and document analysis were used as the main tools in collecting the study data. The data collected were analysed using i) in-depth reading, ii) open coding, and iii) axial coding. The study’s findings indicate that ineffective teaching and learning practices have contributed to declining student academic achievement. In this regard, ineffective teaching and learning practices are attributed to teachers’ failure to adopt effective teaching techniques and the lack of curriculum mastery. Thus, coaching and mentoring could enhance the competence of teaching supervisors, especially school leaders, particularly in high-performing schools. In turn, this approach will increase the commitment, satisfaction and professional development of teachers leading to improved performance.