Marife Turkish Journal of Religious Studies

Abstract

Classroom supervision is conducted in schools to monitor the proper functioning of the educational process. The Ministry of National Education has delegated classroom supervision duties to school principals since 2014 to adopt the principle of subsidiarity in classroom supervision. Thus, a supervision approach prioritizing professional development and guidance has come to the forefront, and the roles of school principals as educational leaders and staff evaluators have gained more importance. This study examines the views of Imam Hatip high school principals regarding classroom supervision. The research question was determined as "How does classroom supervision conducted by Imam Hatip high school principals contribute to the education-teaching process?" The research was designed based on the phenomenological approach, one of the qualitative research methods, and interviews were conducted with 10 school principals working in Samsun Province through a semi-structured interview form prepared by the researcher. Although some participants stated that differences in opinion between school principals and teachers (political, religious, sectarian, or racial) did not negatively affect the classroom supervision process, they expressed that occasional individual negative examples could be encountered. Some participants support principals conducting classroom supervision. Participants who advocate for principals conducting classroom supervision base their argument on principals' better understanding of teachers due to sharing the same environment and working hours, their ability to actively intervene in the process, and note that implementers should have sanctioning authority. The general approach of school principals regarding classroom supervision is that the Ministry of National Education should make necessary legal arrangements to authorize school principals in proportion to their responsibilities to ensure all stages proceed effectively during and after the supervision process and achieve beneficial results. Participants who think principals conducting classroom supervision is negative cited issues such as loss of professionalism, lack of objectivity, principals' lack of supervision competency, principals' workload and inability to follow up on supervision, principals' insufficient knowledge and equipment for supervision duties, difficulty in expressing and addressing deficiencies and implementing sanctions due to sharing the same work environment with teachers. Some participants argued that supervision should be conducted by inspectors due to reasons such as principals' inability to establish necessary seriousness like inspectors, the greater impact on teachers of being supervised by someone whose primary duty is supervision and who is trained in this field, and inspectors being equipped with more authority than principals. The participating school principals expressed that training for principals in supervision is necessary, implementation authority should be granted following supervision, and it would be beneficial for the Ministry of National Education to prepare materials, printed documents, and annual classroom supervision calendars. While some participants stated that supervising a course outside their own subject area would not be problematic since the essence of classroom supervision is successfully transferring administrative experience to the supervision process, some participants indicated that they experience difficulties particularly in Imam Hatip high school vocational courses and that supervision by someone from the same branch would be more efficient if possible, and also noted that successful supervision positively affects teachers' professional development, school success, and students' academic achievement. Participants also presented alternative methods. These include: A hybrid method jointly conducted by school principals and inspectors; a supportive method to guide teachers; and a comprehensive classroom supervision method that includes student achievement. As a result of the research, recommendations were made for legislative arrangements to enable school principals to conduct supervision more effectively, providing theoretical and practical in-service training to school principals regarding supervision, organizing certification programs for school principals on classroom supervision in cooperation with universities, preparing standardized documents containing procedures and principles by the Ministry of National Education to ensure unity in implementation, and preparing classroom supervision calendars.