Abstract:
Purpose: The study assessed the role of heads of English department in the supervision of English
language teachers in public secondary schools in Kakamega county, Kenya among other
objectives. Supervision is key in enhancing learning-teaching experiences. In order to ensure better
supervision of English language teachers, the heads of English department should play a key role
in supervision. When their roles are not carried out efficiently, the teachers may not reach their
full potential and learners may underperform. In Kenya, there is no official supervision approach
that is exclusively used for supervising teachers of English in secondary schools, which means that
teachers of English are not being effectively supervised, and this leads to negative impact on
curriculum delivery.
Methodology: This article is based on the research study done in Kakamega County, which
explored English Language Teachers` opinions about the usefulness of Collaborative Peer
Supervision (CPS) approach in enhancing Teacher Effectiveness in the teaching of English
Language in public secondary schools in Kenya. The study adapted the Convergent Mixed
Methods Research Design, where, 25 heads of English department were purposively sampled from
the 417 public secondary schools in Kakamega county, and were interviewed using a researcher developed in-depth interview schedule. Data collected was thematically analyzed using NVIVO12
Software.
Findings: The results revealed that, the major supervisory roles of HODs currently, is
administrative i.e., supervision of curriculum implementation at the departmental level, conducting
teacher appraisals, and general management of departmental issues. This is formal supervision
through the Teacher Performance Appraisal and Development (TPAD) tool, which is the current
supervisory approach, recognized by the Teachers` Service Commission (TSC), the teachers`
employer in Kenya. The study also revealed that HODs are not fully sensitized about other key
supervisory roles that they should play, in accordance with the literature. The results were
presented thematically, by way of verbatim quotes as expressed by the participants` responses, and
researcher commentaries.
Unique Contribution to theory, practice and policy: The study concluded that teachers of English
in public secondary schools in Kenya, are not being effectively supervised because the HODs are not fully sensitized about their full supervisory roles. The study recommends the development of
capacity building programs on supervisory roles for HODs through workshops and seminars, and
the introduction of CPS as a complementary supervision approach for supervising teachers of
English in secondary schools, in which HODs will take the centrality of guiding supervision in
their departments. This should guarantee the delivery of high-quality instruction.
