The Practice of Developmental Supervision Approaches in Saudi Arabia

The main purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed-methods study is to examine the current practices of developmental supervision in Saudi Arabia. This study focused on the three approaches of developmental supervision which are, directive informational approach, collaborative approach, and nondirective approach. The data were collected through a self-administered web-based survey on a 4-point Likert scale and subsequent semi-structured interviews. The sample contains male and female teachers from Makkah schools who have different levels of education and teaching experiences. A t-test and a one-way ANOVA were used to compare the participants’ responses. Coding method was used to analyze the qualitative data. The findings indicated that elementary school teachers in Saudi Arabia perceived their supervisors’ practice of developmental approaches to supervision as follows. Supervisors sometimes practiced the directive and collaborative approaches but rarely practiced the nondirective approach. Moreover, gender and years of teaching experience had no impact on participants’ responses regarding the three approaches to developmental supervision. Level of education also had no impact on their responses regarding the directive approach but did appear to affect responses about the collaborative and nondirective approaches. In qualitative phase, the themes were organized within the three approaches under study. The qualitative findings supported the quantitative results, which indicated that the most common supervisory practice has a directive nature. Recommendations were made for future research and for policymakers to establish an appropriate climate to effectively implement developmental supervision or other contemporary approaches to supervision.