Developmental Supervision: an Exploratory Study of a Promising Model

Glickman's developmental supervision calls for the instructional leader to use alternative supervisory approaches to help teachers improve their instruction and cognitive growth.' In the tactical phase of Glickman's model, the supervisor diagnoses the teacher's conceptual level (CL), then selects the most appropriate supervisory approach. The developmental supervisor initially uses a directive approach (directing and standardizing) with low-CL teachers, a collaborative approach (presenting, problem solving, and negotiating) with moderate-CL teachers, and a nondirective approach (listening, clarifying, encouraging, and reflecting) with high-CL teachers 2 In the strategic phase of developmental supervision, the supervisor fosters the teacher's growth in CL and problem-solving ability by gradually reducing the structure of the interactions with the teacher while gradually increasing the teacher's decision-making responsibility. The developmental supervisor attempts to move gradually from a directive approach to a collaborative approach and from a collaborative approach to a nondirective approach. The concept of tactically matching supervisory behaviors to teachers' developmental levels is the basis of the study reported here. In this study, supervisors diagnosed teachers' CL. high, moderate, or low They attempted to use nondirective approaches with high-CL teachers, collaborative approaches with moderate-CL teachers, and directive approaches with low-CL teachers. The research on CL indirectly supports developmental supervision. LowCL teachers have difficulty defining problems, have fewer ways of responding