Mentees Perception on the Nature of Teaching Practice and Supervision at the Colleges of Education in Ghana

Abstract

The purpose of the study is to find out the nature of teaching practice supervision and the mentees perception on the roles of the supervisors in teaching practice.The descriptive survey design was used for the study. The target population used for the study consisted of all 2017 third year students (mentees) of Colleges of Education in Ghana while the accessible population consisted of 2017 third year mentees from Akrokerri College of Education. Simple random sampling was used to select a sample of 153 for the study. The instrument used was questionnaire. It was found out that pre-observation was partially done. Few supervisors sit in to observe a full lesson during the observation stage. Majority of the respondents were of the view that during the post-observation conference, discussions are held during which set targets are reviewed and supervisors provide guidance and suggestions for improvement. Majority of the respondents are also not given the chance to make comments on their performance. Again, majority of the supervisors – mentors, lead mentors and link tutors do perform their roles as stipulated in the In-In-Out Policy Document. These include vetting of lesson notes, provision of professional growth and guidance and working in collaboration among others. Few mentors, however, assume that the vetting of lesson notes by lead mentors were not enough. It was recommended that teachers must be made to do full pre-observation and sit throughout the lesson to supervise the mentees.