Supervision and Professional Development: Instructional Leadership for Beginning Teachers

During the past several decades, instructional supervision and professional development have been identified as means to enhance the performance of teachers in professional roles. One of the most critical problems facing the teaching profession is how to improve the development of novice teachers. This book describes beginning teachers? perceptions of actual and ideal approaches to instructional supervision and their perceived connection to professional development in the Canadian and Ukrainian school contexts. This book reviews supervisory choices based on the collaboration with supervisors or peers and self-reflection, and focuses on the importance of professional development geared toward the needs of individual novice teachers. It highlights the need for supervisory assistance and professional support to gain a greater priority in Canadian and Ukrainian schools. Through its cross-cultural context, this book provides policy makers with information that can assist them in shaping new and selecting from broad spectrum of educational policy alternatives for supervision and professional development practices in schools.

Throughout his career, Benjamin has worked as a teacher, researcher, manager, and professor in the field of education in Ukraine and Canada. He completed his PhD in Educational Administration at the University of Saskatchewan. He is currently Assistant Professor in School Law and Policy in the Faculty of Education at Queen's University.