10 Functions of Educational Supervision

Educational supervision has many important functions. Some of these include providing leadership, formulating policies, studying learning situations, identifying areas that need improvement and providing methods for such improvement. Supervision also plays a role in improving interpersonal relationships, group interaction and educational outcomes.

1. Improving the Learning Situation

Through careful planning and co-operation between all parties, supervision plays a role in developing the learning situation. Instruction should be tailored to the individual needs of students, and the curriculum needs to be updated regularly. Teaching should be real-life focused, related to the character and needs of students, as well as the conditions of their family and community life. Teachers should also be kept updated with the latest research and developments in education.

2. Providing Leadership

Leadership can be defined as the process of achieving group goals. Without leadership, group action and cohesiveness can be jeopardised. Good leadership will maintain harmony within the group by promoting a sense of community and group effort. Democracy is an important factor influencing supervision, so any capable member can assume a leadership role.

3. Goal Development

Supervision ensures that teachers and supervisors work together to achieve the goals of the school organisation. School goals are derived from community goals, and goal development in the learning process requires the collective efforts of teachers and supervisors.

4. Improving Interpersonal Relationships

Supervision plays a role in establishing and maintaining good interpersonal relationships among all education workers. Harmonious relationships are created through good co-operation and mutual support among education staff.

5. Improving Group Interaction

Education is a collective endeavour that requires teamwork. Supervision plays a role in developing and maintaining co-operation by encouraging group efforts. This group work helps individual development, strengthens democratic practices and instils moral and ethical values.

6. Improving Educational Outcomes

The educational process is conducted to achieve general and specific goals. Supervision plays a role in continuously improving educational outcomes by identifying the strengths and weaknesses of educational programmes and adopting methods to correct deficiencies.

7. Improving Supervision

Supervision also needs to undertake self-evaluation to ensure that the functions it has been set up to fulfil are being fulfilled properly. This involves assessing results, improving methods and procedures, and developing supervisory personnel.

8. Improving Teacher Morale

It is important for a supervisor to understand the importance of morale and confidence in learning situations and develop methods to improve them. Low morale in a teacher can have a negative impact on students. Therefore, the supervisor must ensure that teachers' morale and attitudes are in line with organisational goals.

9. Motivation Development

An educational institution can only achieve its educational goals if teachers and supervisors are highly motivated. One of the important outcomes of supervision is an increase in their motivation to work towards achieving educational goals.

10. Problem Solving

Supervision also serves to facilitate problem solving in education. This involves a continuous process to achieve the desired results and, if it fails, requires a new attempt with new ideas. Supervision helps in overcoming problems by adjusting conditions to achieve goals.

Educational supervision is a very effective tool in ensuring that the learning process in schools runs well and achieves the desired results. By focusing on improving the learning situation, providing leadership, developing educational goals, and improving interpersonal relationships and motivation, supervision can have a significant positive impact on the quality of education. Thus, the role of supervision should not be overlooked in the effort to continuously improve the quality of education in Indonesia.

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