Exploring Iranian EFL Teachers’ Perceptions on Supervision

Abstract

Observation is a powerful tool for assessing and monitoring a teacher's progress. Used well, it can also be a way to support teachers, because observation gives such a detailed picture and enables very specific objectives to be set. Observation and giving feedback are very complex skills, which need training and practice. It seems important no research devoted on Iranian EFL teachers’ perception of being observed during their teaching. The aim of this study is to explore the perceptions of EFL teachers concerning being observed during teaching by a supervisor. A reliable and validated questionnaire for teachers (N= 34) and semi structured interview was used to collect data on perceptions of EFL teachers concerning observations during teaching by a supervisor. The collected data were carefully recorded in SPSS files and analyzed using frequencies, descriptive statistics, and inferential tests. The overall finding of the survey showed that teachers in those observations tried to please their supervisors and ensure supervisors that they adhere to the program policy because they were worried about the consequences of getting the ‘unsatisfactory’ rating by supervisors and even being fired. Further analyses and interview findings indicate that teachers sometimes feel that they are not being sufficiently challenged, and that the observation and feedback is only superficial. Moreover, they believe many observers almost automatically look for things to criticize and also bad practices in observing cause them great problems and damage their confidence. This study's findings contribute to a better understanding of the role of supervision in EFL classes and teachers’ attitude towards it. Additionally, some useful implications are proposed based on research findings for the conduct of teaching practice on pre-service language teacher education courses in Iran and more generally; suggestions for future research are also discussed.