Pedagogical supervision and continuous training: myths and perceptions through narratives of teachers from Monapo District

Abstract

What perceptions do teachers have about pedagogical supervision? This may be the founding question of a narrative research with teachers of Monapo district, in Nampula Province, Northern of Mozambique, which we developed within the scope of the PhD course in Educational Innovation, at the Faculty of Education and Communication of the Catholic University of Mozambique. The objective was to analyze teachers’ experiences on pedagogical supervision. For this, we asked teachers to produce texts narrating their experiences at school, as objects and/or subjects of the supervision process. This exercise is considered as the methodology of our study. To achieve the objective, we took as indicators: the role of the supervisor, the skills of the supervisor, and the perception of what supervision is and the challenges of supervision. Through the testimonies of the teachers, we could conclude that there is evidence at the level of the implications for the supervisee, because the procedures employed, in their perception, are not the most suitable for the monitoring and development of the teaching work, since they understand supervision as an administrative practice, with a supervisory and punitive function. Hence, they do not consider it as an auxiliary instrument for their professional development. Thus, when the supervision takes the character of assistance to the class, this process has been considered an “event” and not a practical space/training moment for some supervisors and/or teachers.

Keywords: Professional development. Pedagogical supervision experience.