Teachers’ Perceptions Towards Instructional Supervisory Competences of Educational Quality Assurance and Standards Officers

Abstract

The main purpose of this study was to assess the existing perceptions of school principals and Heads of Departments (HoDs) towards the instructional supervisory competences of Quality Assurance and Standards Officers (QASOs) in secondary schools in Nairobi and Machakos counties, Kenya. The study aimed to investigate the school principals’ and HoDs’ perceptions towards QASOs’ human, technical and conceptual skills. The study used three types of research instruments, namely; School Principals’ and Heads of Departments’ Questionnaire, Quality Assurance and Standards Officers’ Questionnaire and County Quality Assurance and Standards Officers’ Interview Guide. Data was analyzed used mixed methods, involving qualitative and quantitative techniques. The study revealed that, teachers hold the opinion that QASOs exhibited favorable human relations competences, however, QASOs were found to be partially effective in respect to technical and conceptual competences. The study recommends that the QASOs already in the field to be taken through intensive capacity building trainings in their specific subjects so as to equip them with requisite technical and conceptual competences for conducting instructional supervision.

Keywords: Quality Assurance and Standards Officers (QASOs), instructional supervisory competences, Teachers’ perceptions