SEMINAR PAPER ON PHILOSOPHICAL CONCEPT OF ADMINISTRATION AND SUPERVISION IN VOCATIONAL EDUCATION

Abstract

The standard of education in Nigeria is often said to be on the decline based mainly on dismal students’ performances in National Examinations. It is therefore, pertinent to explore avenues for strengthening and refocusing the educational system: An enormous challenge in the educational delivery is the role of the instructional supervisor. The teachers and their supervisors need to agree on the most appropriate activities that will ensure effective delivery of instructional activities. This study therefore was conducted to find out if there were still supervisors in Technical and Vocational Colleges; if so, if they knew their responsibilities and if they were performing them effectively.

INTRODUCTION

Training has for quite some time been recognized as a standout amongst the most vital partners of improvement. This view is bolstered by FRN (2004) where it expressed that “no country can transcend the nature of its training framework”. Training in human social orders has made some amazing progress, from its reliance on environment through its work and specialty introduction, its phase of filling in as an individual frivolity and after that today, from filling in as a method for cultivating financial improvement to have gotten to be synonymous with development and monetary advancement. Professional Technical Education (VTE) which is seen by numerous as a basic instructive framework passing by its extraordinary and threatening qualities and possibilities ought to be legitimately and enough controlled and directed if its objectives and goals are to be achieved. Likewise, for VTE to be utilitarian, all procedures that are included must be reinforced, enough and legitimately bundled, proficiently and adequately conveyed. Keeping in mind the end goal to accomplish the prior, an intentional and center, based Organization and Supervision is basic.

It is believed that education is an instrument for National development, to this end, the formulation of ideas, their integration for national development, and the interaction of persons and ideas are all aspects of education. The Federal Government of Nigeria is conscious of the importance of education for personal and national economic development that in section 12: 107 (c) of the National Policy on Education (2004) set out as one of her objectives, to ensure quality control through regular and continuous supervision of instructional and other educational services. The issue at hand now is to investigate if the supervision of teaching is effectively carried out. A critical issue that has frequently confronted educational supervisors is how to better prepare teachers to face the challenges of the classroom.

Effective supervision is therefore a crucial issue in the delivery of Technical and Vocational Education as it is the main avenue through which technological and entrepreneurial exploits could be ensured for sustainable economic development. The goals of technical and vocational education as stated in the National Policy on Education (2004: pp30-31) are to: a. Provide trained manpower in the applied sciences, technology and business particularly at craft, advanced craft and technical levels; b. Provide the technical knowledge and vocational skills necessary for agricultural, commercial economic development; and c. Give training and impart the necessary skills to individuals who shall be self-reliant economically. There are numerous techniques that could be adapted, but the main issue is which one would be most suitable for a particular teacher and a particular subject and for how long can that technique ensure efficiency? As it’s often acknowledged, the human being is the most complex of creation; hence the supervisor must possess exceptional skills, and repertoire of strategies to perform his responsibilities effectively. Instructional supervisors are therefore expected to induct their supervisees by informing them about their performance expectation. Furthermore the supervisor is to help “teachers develop a strong understanding of conceptual foundations of the subject as well as understanding of how knowledge is created and organized in the subject” (California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CCTC). This is achieved through a “focus on how effective teachers achieve their instructional goals and the kind of instructional process they employed.

Man in any society has some specific duties to perform in order to live a happy life. As man continues to live in his environment, his demands and problems continue to rise, ranging from simple to complex. These demands may be sociological, psychological, philosophical, political and economic in nature. Man therefore, functions in his society in a way satisfactory to the above demands. These demands continued to be complex, the work or functions to be performed to satisfy them also grew increasingly complex. Therefore, there arose the need to equip man strongly to grapple with the complexity of demands in his environment, hence the emergence and development of vocational-technical education. Vocational-technical education, in its traditional role facilitates the adjustment of he skills and knowledge of man to the changing demands within the society. The form of education is deliberately designed to help man improve his skills. It places emphasis on skill development of the individual in chosen occupations. Realizing the importance of skills to man‘s survival in the world of work it is necessary to build up skills in individuals in ka society. To survive in our fast-changing society, man needs five basic skills- the ability to reason, the ability to re-adjust one‘s own terms to cultural flux, the ability to control and spend one‘s time with intelligence and purpose, the ability to achieve and sustain rewarding relationships with others and the ability to preserve and extend one‘s uniqueness while participating harmoniously in the society. The above view takes into account, the basic tenants for progressive Vocational/Technical Education. These include philosophical, historical, sociological, psychological, political and economic considerations.

Consideration for Vocation/Technical Education:

Philosophically, all men are thought have the potential to become propen owners through the application of acquired knowledge and skills to specific jobs. Therefore, philosophy which is the process of clarification, justification, verification and criticism of an idea, belief or a concept is 3 essential for vocational success. Philosophy also deals with the ways of life of a people, that is their belief, conviction about what they do, how they do it, why they do it and their values. For an individual to make a wise choice of occupation within which to acquire and develop knowledge and skills for a living, he needs to clarify, justify, verify and criticize the job or listen to the criticism of the job before deciding to enter into it for the actualizations of his goals. Philosophy, therefore, enables the individual to assess himself with reference to his qualification for a job in terms of his ability, aptitude, attitude and other elements associated with the job. Nearly every individual in a society is confronted with the problems associated with Vocational/Technical choices, preparation for vocations, entering into a vocational pursuit and making progress in it. All these problems could be designated as vocational problems. A man‘s calling is the most important aspect of his life and nearly all his experiences revolve round it. Man, therefore needs some assistance in choosing his work, preparing for it, entering into it and making progress in it. The business of Vocational/Technical Education is to see that individuals identify vocational/occupational problems and develop the specific abilities needed for vocational success. Once an individual achieves his, he will be able to life a productive and satisfying life. Since Vocational/Technical Education plays this important role between the individuals and his vocational occupation, there is for a philosophical background. In summary, the most important questions in educational philosophy are ―what should it be taught? When the teacher analyses or provides answers to these questions, he is in the process of clarification, justification, verification and criticism of his content. The content to be learnt therefore should be selected and taught in a way that each student should understand, be able to control and be confident in his contribution to improve his environment. Historical Considerations for Vocational/Technical Education: Historically, vocational/technical education is essentially a history of man‘s effort to improve his technical competence in order to upgrade his economic position in the society. Therefore, for man to be able to continue to improve and sustain his saleable skills, he needs the history of the efforts of his ancestors and also to enable him improve the Vocational/Occupational skills in his environment. Man, since the beginning of time, has worked for his livelihood and this has necessitated that he learns how to work; therefore, individual‘s efforts, initiatives and ingenuity are the first principles that guided man in his effort to maintain his livelihood. Historically, the earliest forms of vocational/technical education centred around such problems as those of securing food, providing shelter and making clothing materials for protection. Of greater importance to vocational/technical education development is the process of handing down these accumulated knowledge and skills of man to his predecessors and the accompanying changes brought about by the development of technology, be it simple or sophisticated.

Psychological Considerations for Vocational/Technical Education: Psychologically, the way people behave might have its roots in vocational/technical orientation because vocational/technical education equips an individual with the skills and materials that influence his behaviour in the environment at any particular time. Psychology time to analyse the behaviour of an individual in a society in relation to the knowledge and skills he has acquired. It also helps to improve the efficiency of both teaching and learning by pointing out the importance of process of instruction and the need for adaptation in respect of the characteristics of the learner. It emphasizes the importance of habit formation in skill development; this is very important in teaching and learning vocational/technical skills. Repetitive training which is derived from habit psychology helps in the development of skills and attitudes in specific occupations. This is very relevant to one of the theories of vocational/technical education which states that vocational education will be effective in proportion as the specific experiences for forming the right habits of doing and thinking are repeated to the extent that the habits developed are those of the finished skills necessary employment. The forming of habits depends on repetitive training, through this way, intelligence and skills are built up. Psychology emphases the rapid and efficient development of specific habits in the doing and thinking domains and development of the environment with reference to specific occupations. Psychology helps the teacher to design instruction which could aid each student‘s learning. Also, it is the job of the teacher to make use of experience in psychology to provide the conditions that will facilitate learning and make it meaningful to the student so that he can absorb the amount of Vocational/Technical competence and other competencies which he needs for a better adjustment in the society. An individual that is equipped with Vocational/Technical skills, believes that he has something to offer to the society: this individual, therefore feels happy and proud. Conversely, when an individual is empty of saleable skills,  he feels that the society does not need him. He tries to isolate himself from the others; even when he might have good ideas to contribute to a dialogue he feels shy of contributing because of his inferiority complex among the skilled members of the society. What psychology points out is that individual needs some sills to survive in his society through active participation in societal work roles. In order to acquire such skills, it is important that the learner sees things for himself, practices them and repeat them from time to time so

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