The Influence Of Instructional Supervision On Curriculum Implementation In Cameroon Primary Schools

Cameroon’s education system,especially at the primary level,suffers from an acute shortage of teachers,both in terms of quantity and quality.As a result,there is a heavy reliance on unqualified individuals such as some PTAs and contract teachers.Many teachers lack subject knowledge of all subjects,the necessary pedagogical skills and required professional attitudes.As such the quality of education at this level is being compromised to meet up with the social demands.This remains a fundamental challenge since such education system can mostly produce mediocrates graduates.This situation becomes even more complex when Cameroon’s basic education curriculum was reformed in 2018.New subjects and high pedagogical approaches such as;PBL,STEM integration,Etc.,are introduced.Such changes conflict with existing and unresolved realistic problems which prompted the reform.Therefore,many teachers,especially novice teachers,are now expected to teach in ways they themselves were not taught.These facts underscores the importance of instructional supervision,if there is a heavy reliance on unqualified teachers,especially in the era of curriculum reform.This study therefore set out to investigate the influence of instructional supervisory practices on curriculum implementation in Cameroon primary schools.Specifically,the study attempted;(1)To investigate headteacher and PPI’s roles towards curriculum implementation in Cameroon primary schools(2)To analyze PPI’s end of year pedagogic reports with regards to problems affecting curriculum implementation in Cameroon primary schools.(3)To examine how head teacher’s records checking influences curriculum implementation in Cameroon primary schools.(4)To find out how head teacher’s classroom observations influences curriculum implementation in Cameroon primary schools.(5)To find out how PPI’s school visit influence curriculum implementation in Cameroon primary schools.In addition,this study was guided by three hypothesis which set out to test the assumptions of the conceptual framework developed by the researcher.The exploratory sequential mixed method design was utilized.This study was delimited to Southwest and Northwest Regions,the two official English speaking regions of Cameroon.The sample population comprised of 400 randomly selected teachers.In addition 14 head teachers,and 6 pedagogic inspectors(20 interviewees)took part in an interview.An interview guide,documents analysis and questionnaire was used for data collection.Qualitative data from interviews and documents was analyzed thematically.While Quantitative data was keyed into excel and analyzed using the Statistical Software for Social Sciences(SPSS)version 23.Data analysis made use of both descriptive and inferential statistics.The main results revealed that record checking and classroom observation by head teacher has a significant relationship with curriculum implementation in Cameroon primary schools.Hence curriculum implementation tends to increase with increase in record checking and classroom observation.On the other hand results revealed that PPI’s school visit has no significant relationship with curriculum implementation in Cameroon primary schools.Furthermore,a multiple linear regression was used to predict the curriculum implementation in Cameroon primary schools from record checking by head teacher,classroom observation by head teacher,PPI’s school visit,gender,educational qualification and longevity in service.The results of the regression analysis indicated that instructional supervision is not the only variable influencing curriculum implementation in Cameroon primary schools.This may be linked to factors affecting supervision likewise curriculum implementation such as;lack of pedagogic resources;teacher’s lack of content knowledge;the socio-political crises in Cameroon;increase in teacher absenteeism and attrition;poor inter schools partnership;teachers resistance towards change;and unsatisfactory syllables coverage,as revealed by the document analysis results in this study.By implication,these factors therefore,weaken the relationship between instructional supervision and curriculum implementation.Finally result revealed that,head teachers and PPIs roles regarding curriculum implementation in Cameroon includes: monitoring performance and evolution;sharing information and providing resources;Conflict management;guidance counselling,and teachers’ training and professional development,were found weak.Results suggest that Teachers did not have enough support from instructional supervision to improve their pedagogical skills especially from PPI.The conclusion is that instructional supervision has a direct relationship with curriculum implementation,hence curriculum implementation tends to increase with increase in instructional supervision.At the same time,there exist significant difference at the level of supervision provided by head teachers and PPI.For instance,on comparative basis this study revealed that head teachers are more effective than PPI with regards to instructional supervision.By implication,more resources should be channeled towards the development and motivation of head teachers to perform this role more satisfactorily.Also,this study was able to establish that,the gaps identified in Cameroon primary education system before curriculum reform still persist in today’s classroom teaching and learning.By implication,until most of the problem identified in these study are resolved,curriculum implementation in Cameroon primary schools can’t satisfactory as envisages in the reformed curriculum.Thereby justifying the significant of effective instructional supervision by head teachers and PPIs.The results from this study therefore support call for change in instructional supervisory practices in Cameroon primary schools from an almost exclusive attentions to a holistic approach which tackle other factors which have been ignored by key stakeholders in the teaching learning process.Aside suggestions for further study and recommendations for policy makers and schools,this study concludes that the hypothesized conceptual framework developed in this study proves to be a catalyst which can used to improve instructional supervision,likewise curriculum implementations in Cameroon primary schools and related context.