Educational Supervision: Reflections on Its Past, Present, and Future

Abstract

The author shares summaries of the supervision literature along with personal reflections and recommendations to discuss supervision’s past, present, and future. Topics from the past include the heyday of clinical superevision, the University of Georgia’s Department of Curriculum and Supervision, important concepts introduced by supervision scholars, and groups associated with supervision. Consideration of the present encompasses current scholarship, other recent influences on supervision, and the resurgence of the Council of Professors of Instructional Supervision (COPIS). The part of the article on supervision’s future consists of hopes and recommendations for the future, with discussions of the Journal of Educational Supervision as well as recommendations for political action, teacher leadership, and fully functioning professional development schools. The author also recommends an expanded COPIS as well as partnership among scholarly groups focused on educational supervision, school districts and schools, and supervision scholars from around the world.