Garman Clinical Approach to Supervision
The Clinical Approach to Supervision
Noreen B. Garman
Garman, N. (1982). The clinical approach to supervision. In T.J. Sergiovanni (Ed.) Supervision of teaching. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
• The practice of supervision should not solely be defined by the cyclical model of clinical supervision.
A Knowledge Base:
• Itinerant supervisors cling to the cyclical method and find it serves as a relief to assist them in their jobs.
• Clinical supervisors find their practice embedded in their work. They engage in long relationships with the context and participants and seek to be learner as well.
Constructs and Concepts in Supervision
• Concepts should be measured by their reliability and their usability.
• "If educational practice has integrity, the practitioner recognizes that concept formation is necessary for renewing the life of the practice, and searches for unifying principles which connect the past to the present (p. 38)."
The Clinical Approach: Twenty Years Later
• Collegiality: A Frame of Mind (4 Levels)
o Collegiality is a frame a mind - a cognitive state about the environment in which one works and how one functions within that environment.
o (It's a hierarchy...(see below) (how am I supposed to relate to you...look at the adjectives below...)
o Alienated Critic
• Emotional investment allows one to become an alienated critic. Prior experience with the situation gives the authority to critique.
o Neutral Observer
• The neutral observer maintains a detached disposition.
• "It is the combined flaws of ignorance and lack of compassion that prevent us from making meaningful connections with those whom we find disagreeable (p. 41)."
• Jim's interpretation - It's just the facts. It's your responsibility.
o Connected Participant
• Aligning philosophies enable one to connect with others and act as a connected participant.
• Connections create genuine collegiality.
• "...the appreciation of the rich culture of teaching will inevitably become a force in mutual colleagiality (sic) (p. 42)."
• Jim's interpretation - We're supposed to work together. I have my role and you have your role. No one ever steps out of their roles.
o Organic Member
• Jim's interpretation - the roles get interchanged. (This is the distinction between connected and organic.) You can't distinguish between who is the supervisor or who is the teacher. They are interchanged.
o Collegiality as a Face-to-Face Encounter
• Quality of interaction time is more important than quantity.
Collaboration - When there's a power differential organizationally, the supervisor's frame of mind determines the level of the relationship. It can limit the collaborative relationship. Because the supervisor, to some extent, has power, the teacher's frame of mind is not as important. The teacher's power lies in access. S/he determines how far the supervisor is let in...The teacher is the gatekeeper. Both partner's frame of mind (collegial stance) influence the relationship.
o Non-working Involvement
o Working - Acceptance Involvement:
• Politeness
• Does not always feel genuine
o Involvements with Genuine Participation
• Honesty and trustworthiness does not necessarily guarantee genuine participation.
• Closed agreements are restrictive; open are not.
• Closed agreements are very structured; open are free to evolve.
o Involvements with Organic Reciprocity
• Organic reciprocity occurs when mutual respect, genuine affection, and dynamic tension occurs.
• Dynamic tension allows the individuals to challenge and stimulate each other's thinking while still maintaining a mutual respect for one another. Each continues to learn from the other.
o Skilled Service
• Educational Encounters
• Inquiry Skills
• Supervisors resort to checklists since they are easier to execute rather than data gathering and observational mechanisms.
• Discovery
• Verification
• Explanation
• Interpretation
• Evaluation
• Ethical Conduct
o "In clinical supervision, one doesn't have ethics, one does ethics (p. 52)."
• When Are We Really Clinical Supervisors?
o "Ultimately a person becomes a clinical supervisor when he/she can use the method, act through the metaphor, and thereby sort out the nontrivial from the trivial in order to bring meaning to educational endeavors (p. 52)."
See additional notes in Word document.