Chapter 1 - Supervision and School Renewal

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READINGS

There are several key theorists and people who have helped develop the concepts of supervision throughout the years since 1881. Here are the primary researchers:

Scientific Management - Frederick Taylor (By 1881 Taylor had published a paper that turned the cutting of metal into a science. Later he turned his attention to shoveling coal. By experimenting with different designs of shovel for use with different material (from 'rice' coal to ore) he was able to design shovels that would permit the worker to shovel for the whole day. In so doing, he reduced the number of people shoveling at the Bethlehem Steel Works from 500 to 140. This work, and his studies on the handling of pig iron, greatly contributed to the analysis of work design and gave rise to method study. To follow, in 1895, were papers on incentive schemes. A piece rate system on production management in shop management, and later, in 1909, he published the book for which he is best known, Principles of Scientific Management. A feature of Taylor's work was stop-watch timing as the basis of observations. However, unlike the early activities of Perronet and others, he started to break the timings down into elements and it was he who coined the term 'time study'. Read more at http://www.accel-team.com/scientific/scientific_02.html

Human Relations Movement - Elton Mayo The Hawthorne Experiments were headed by Elton Mayo and conducted at Western Electric, in Chicago (1927-1932). The original research plan was to study the effects of physical conditions (light, noise, temperature) on productivity. But what the researchers found was that productivity was largely determined by the social conditions at work. These conditions are shaped by the opportunities workers have to forge informal alliances. The thesis of these HR writers is aptly captured by Mayo (1945, p. 10): "... problems of absenteeism, labor turnover, 'wildcat' strikes, show that we do not know how to ensure spontaneity of cooperation; that is teamwork." Therefore, "collaboration in an industrial society cannot be left to chance..." The single most important discovery of the Hawthorne experiments was that workers had a strong need to cooperate and communicate with fellow workers.

The focus of the human relations movement was on "winning friends" in an attempt to influence people. For many "winning friends" was a slick tactic that made the movement seem manipulative and dishonest. More can be found here Elton Mayo

Neo-Scientific Management - School Reform Movement of the 1980's. This method of supervision was a reaction "against human relations supervision with its neglect of the teacher in the classroom and its lack of attention to accountability." (Sergiovanni & Starrat, 1998, p. 13).

Neo-scientific management relies heavily on externally imposed authority and technical control. See this lecture for more on Neo-Scientific Management.

In short, there is a renewed interest in closely monitoring what it is that teachers do.