Abstract:
Instructional supervision is a well-established educational practice that supports
teachers ’
competence in curriculum implementation. In Kenya, studies have
established
several challenges experienced by teachers in the implementation of the competency-
based curriculum (CBC) despite the provision of supervision. This study sought to
explore instructional supervision support to teachers' implementation of the CBC in the
public primary schools in Kapsaret sub-county, Kenya. The study was guided by four
objectives: to establish instructional supervisors' and teachers' experience about the
support of professional records checking to teachers' implementation of the CBC; to
establish instructional supervisors' and teachers' experience about the support of lesson
observation to teachers' implementation of the CBC; to explore instructional
supervisors’ and teachers’ experience about the support of collaborative learning
to teachers’ implementation of the CBC; to explore instructional supervisors’
and teachers ’
experience about the support of professional development to
teachers’ implementation of the CBC. The study was guided by Vygots ky’ s social
constructivism
theory and adopted a phenomenological design within the qualitative approach. The
target population was 52 school administrators and 670 teachers. 4 school
administrators and 28 teachers were purposively selected from two rural and two urban
public primary schools in Kapseret sub-county. Data was generated using semi-
structured interviews, focused group discussions, and document analysis; and was
analyzed using Thematic Analysis. Findings revealed that professional records
checking provided insufficient support to teachers in curriculum implementation due to
supervisors’ inadequate knowledge about CBC while lesson observation contributed
to improving teachers’ pedagogical skills though it was rarely conducted. Findings
further revealed that collaborative learning improved teachers ’ pedagogical and
interpersonal
skills as well as eased their workload through mutual support while professional
development played an inductive role in supporting teachers ’ implementation of
CBC
though many teachers have not been subjected to continuous professional development
programs due to limited training opportunities. The study concluded that instructional
supervision support to teachers was inadequate to propel teachers ’
pedagogical
competence in CBC implementation. It is, therefore, recommended that the Ministry of
Education should: ensure quality professional records checking through instructional
supervisors’ capacity building; ensure regular lesson observation to enhance teachers
’
pedagogical competence as well as encourage collaborative learning among teachers to
promote teachers' mutual and continuous development in CBC implementation; and
finally increase continuous professional development opportunities to enable teachers
to gain mastery of CBC to ensure its effective implementation in Kenya.