Publication Details
Abstract
In many developing education systems, including Cameroon, the quality of basic education remains a critical concern, often linked to the effectiveness of instructional supervision. Despite the presence of official supervisory frameworks, gaps persist in translating supervision practices into improved teacher performance and classroom outcomes. This study investigated the influence of instructional supervision practices on teachers’ productivity in the Basic Education Sector of the North West Region of Cameroon, focusing on two core strategies: clinical supervision, and the checking of professional documents. Guided by two objectives and corresponding hypotheses, the study employed a convergent parallel mixed-methods design, combining quantitative data from 245 teachers and qualitative insights from 14 sub-divisional inspectors. Census, stratified and purposive sampling techniques were used in the study. Structured questionnaires and semi-structured interview guides were the instruments used for data collection. The reliability was determined using Cronbach alpha with a coefficient of 0.76 obtained. Quantitative data were analyzed using regression analysis while qualitative data were subjected to thematic analysis. The quantitative findings revealed that clinical supervision (R = 0.501, R² = 0.251) and the checking of documents (R = 0.525, R² = 0.275), significantly influenced teachers’ productivity. The qualitative findings indicated that goal-setting through pre-observation meetings, reflective feedback and regular documentation review contributed positively to teaching performance as opposed to inadequate follow-up by inspectors that contributed negatively to teaching performance. Based on these findings the study recommends capacity building for inspectors through seminars and increased supervision frequency by inspectors as salient instructional practices that enhance instructional supervision practices and teachers’ productivity.