Reference no: EM133398747

Myths About Supervision

1. Almost Anyone Can Be An Early Childhood Supervisor- There is an idea within the child care professional community that a great classroom teacher will make a great supervisor. Outside of the profession, there is a lack of understanding of the complexity of the job. When you take into consideration the children, family members and staff a Director is responsible for the number can be in excess of 500 people. Added to the complicated nature of working with so many other human beings, there are many complex responsibilities done by a Director, requiring a skill set beyond what is needed for a great teacher.

2. There is One Best Approach to Use With Everyone - We are individuals and each person requires a different approach. When communicating with another person there are two filters the message needs to go through. Filters edit the content of the message through the cultural learning the individual has had their entire life. As a supervisor it is important to understand our own filters as well as those of the people we supervise. These filters are a combination of:

o Our personalities:

? Are we an extrovert or an introvert?

? How do we process the information we receive, logically or emotionally?

? When we communicate are we direct communicators or do we use a circular communication style?

o What we have been told about how to communicate and what it means when we say different things in different ways in our culture?

? How were we taught to speak to people who had power over us? Either by age or position?

? How have we been taught to talk or listen? Are we from a family where people talked over each other and interrupted or a family with long gaps of silence between each person's speech?

? How formal are we with our language in different types of communication?

3. Direct Confrontation With Staff is Non-supportive - As teachers we are often taught to have compassion and empathy for the children we work with. Sometimes that can create difficulty for them when supervising employees. Just as we set limits for children we need to learn to set limits as supervisors. Teachers and others you supervise need to know and understand what is expected from them in their job. Knowing these limits and possible consequences of our actions help teachers to succeed in their jobs. Sometimes the best way to help someone is to be direct, succinct and honest about something that is happening.

4. Skilled Supervisors Never Engage in Manipulation - Manipulation that is coercive and contains elements of power control can be very harmful. However, the use of motivation, appreciations and positive feedback can be very useful in helping staff reach their potential.

5. Good Teachers Do Not Need Supervision - If we ignore and do not supervise our top performing staff we deprive them of the support that encourages them to grow stronger and get batter at what they do. If this becomes our management style we can often discourage top performing teachers from becoming their best. Just as great teachers pay attention to the quietest of children in the classroom we need to pay attention to all teachers, especially the ones we think don't need us.

6. Supervision is an Objective Process - Supervision is complex. As with everything in life we bring ourselves to the job. That means we have biases, opinions and more that affect the way we do things and how we do them. The more aware you are of what these are for us the more aware we can be of when they may be affecting our decisions. Also, implementation of a philosophy in a child development program often requires a subjective bias towards that philosophy that is important if we are to guide our program towards a stronger implementation of the philosophy.

7. Supervisors Are Always Calm - There are a large number of pressures supervisors face every day. The complexity of the job comes with a complexity of stresses, challenges and emotions. Supervisors who try to stay emotionless and calm even under tremendous pressure can appear inhuman to staff and others. Our emotions allow us to better empathize with teachers. "Teachers who see supervisors with human qualities often gain a greater respect for them."

Questions:

1. How one or more of the myths have affected the supervision and the work of the preschool site supervisor.

2. What myths that can affect the supervisory role or supervisor-supervisee relationships.

3. Given the nature of the supervisory jobs in early childhood education, what qualities and competencies should early childhood supervisor possesses ?