Edwin G. Ralph

Mentoring Beginning Teachers: Findings from Contextual Supervision.

This article examines the contextual supervision (CS) model that has been developed and applied in several practicum settings of teacher-education programs over the past ten years. The study synthesizes the research findings on the potential effectiveness of CS in assisting faculty supervisors and classroom cooperating teachers with the task of mentoring pre-service teachers to develop their instructional repertoire. The CS model is described, its rationale is presented, research results on its application are summarized, its strengths and limitations are identified, and implications of its usefulness as a mentoring tool to enhance teacher performance are drawn.

Enhancing managers'supervisory effectiveness: a promising model

Purpose – To describe the contextual supervision (CS) model, and to invite interested researchers to study its effects in a wider range of applications across a variety of management fields.Design/methodology/approach – The developer of the CS model summarizes how he refined and studied the original situational leadership approach to assist supervisory personnel in education to mentor teacher‐interns as they developed their classroom instructional skills.Findings – The 15 years of accumulated CS findings have consistently identified several strengths and one lingering limitation with the model. Key strengths are that CS is intuitively appealing and relatively easy to learn and that it helps participants clearly conceptualize the entire supervisory process. The limitation is that there appears to be a small, but persistent, number of supervisors who, although trained in CS, tend to exhibit a mismatch of style with supervisee developmental level.Practical implications – There is enough research evidence to ...

Beginning teachers' utilization of instructional media: a canadian case study

SUMMARY This study investigated the self‐reported use and production of 14 instructional media by a group of recent BEd graduates from a university in Western Canada. Their questionnaire responses were analysed in relation to various factors: amount of teachers’ formal coursework in instructional media taken during their pre‐service education, grade level taught, location of school (urban/rural), school‐system type (public/separate), and age and sex of the teacher. An analysis of the data led to findings similar to those reported in previous research, namely: novice teachers use media more than they produce it; their use/production of instructional media appears more affected by grade level taught than by other factors; they express concern over the lack of time to acquire (and the lack of availability of) certain media; and although they acknowledge the value of instructional media in teaching, they suggest that better pre‐service preparation of teachers is needed to help them utilize instructional media...

Enhancing the Supervision of Beginning Teachers: A Canadian Initiative.

Abstract The purpose of this study was to examine, and to consider improvements to, the supervision of beginning teachers in one Canadian province, during the 3-year transition phase into formal teaching. This phase spans the period from their college-based extended-practicum experience in the schools through to the end of their probation term, prior to their achieving tenure with an employing school division. The existing supervisory practice, as conducted both in the colleges practicum program and in the provinces school division, was compared to that recommended in some of the current reform literature related to North American teacher education. In the light of this three-way comparison, implications are drawn to encourage the groups involved in this transition period to strengthen their recently initiated collaborative efforts in supervision.

Developing Managers’ Effectiveness:: A Model With Potential

A basic assumption in the leadership literature is that successful managers will vary their leadership styles to meet the developmental needs of the supervisees they are mentoring to help them reach their potential in their work performance. One promising model that has proven effective in enhancing leaders’ supervisory or mentorship skills is contextual supervision (CS). In this article, the author describes this model and shows how it has been used to help prepare classroom teachers to mentor preservice teacher candidates as they developed their instructional skills during their practicum placements in schools. This model and approach could be adapted by managers in any field to enhance their supervision of protégés engaged in learning and/or improving the skills and knowledge in their respective contexts.

Implications for Improving Teaching in the Health Sciences: some Canadian findings

Abstract This article (based on the results of a comprehensive study of the state of orthodontic education in seven dental schools across Canada) discusses broader implications for the improvement of undergraduate teaching. After comparing the overall findings from this study with the recent research on effective educational change, the authors provide suggestions for strengthening the instructional programmes investigated in the study. They also draw inferences from this analysis that may apply to other institutions initiating instructional‐improvement efforts.

Motivating Instruction in University Continuing Education: A Fresh Look at the Key Principles

This article revisits the critically important issue of how to motivate adults to learn. From a review of the literature on effective instruction, the author synthesizes five comprehensive principles that exemplary facilitators of adult learning typically apply in their sessions, courses, and programs to create and/or sustain learner interest. The article includes some practical applications of these principles for instructors, programmers, and others who wish to enhance the teaching/learning process in adult education.