Transforming supervision in secondary schools: Insights from Soft Systems Methodology.
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| Title: | Transforming supervision in secondary schools: Insights from Soft Systems Methodology. |
|---|---|
| Authors: | Thompson-Kerr, Kimberley (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Educational & Child Psychology. Sep2025, Vol. 42 Issue 3, p122-142. 21p. |
| Subjects: | Supervision, Well-being, Educational support, Secondary schools, Mental health, Teaching models, Systems theory, Employee well-being |
| Abstract: | Aims Recent survey data suggests that teacher wellbeing is deteriorating (Educational Institute for Scotland: EIS, 2023) with poor wellbeing associated with greater incidence of burn-out and intention to leave the profession (Reid & Soan, 2019) which has negative impacts for schools and pupils (Dreer, 2023; Kelchtermans, 2017; Simon & Johnson, 2015). Supervision is a recommended mechanism for supporting teacher mental health and wellbeing (Education Scotland, 2023; Lawrence, 2020). However, supervision is a relatively novel concept within education (Soni, 2018). A small, but growing body of research is looking to develop education-specific frameworks and models (Cairns et al., 2023; Currie, 2023). Method This research sought to contribute to this gap by using soft systems methodology (Checkland, 2001) to work with staff groups from one secondary school to design a model of supervision which would best suit their collective needs. Utilising a researcher-developed Customer, Actors, Transformation process, World view, Owners, and Environmental constraints: CATWOE checklist to highlight potential problem areas (Checkland, 2001) and discourse analysis to analyse focus group data, a wellbeing continuum model was developed. Findings General recommendations for developing/implementing teacher supervision structures were generated, the most striking of which was to view supervision as only one component within a whole school approach to staff mental health and wellbeing (MHWB). In contrast to other studies (Cairns et al., 2023; Currie, 2023), this research does not suggest that Educational Psychologists should provide inter-professional supervision for education staff but should rather utilise their skill set to help schools develop and embed their own structures. Limitations The wellbeing continuum developed in this study is highly contextualized to High School A and is unlikely to be able to be applicable elsewhere without adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Educational & Child Psychology is the property of British Psychological Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Header | DbId: pbh DbLabel: Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection An: 188317604 AccessLevel: 6 PubType: Academic Journal PubTypeId: academicJournal PreciseRelevancyScore: 0 |
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| Items | – Name: Title Label: Title Group: Ti Data: Transforming supervision in secondary schools: Insights from Soft Systems Methodology. – Name: Author Label: Authors Group: Au Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Thompson-Kerr%2C+Kimberley%22">Thompson-Kerr, Kimberley</searchLink> (AUTHOR) – Name: TitleSource Label: Source Group: Src Data: <searchLink fieldCode="JN" term="%22Educational+%26+Child+Psychology%22">Educational & Child Psychology</searchLink>. Sep2025, Vol. 42 Issue 3, p122-142. 21p. – Name: Subject Label: Subjects Group: Su Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Supervision%22">Supervision</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Well-being%22">Well-being</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Educational+support%22">Educational support</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Secondary+schools%22">Secondary schools</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Mental+health%22">Mental health</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Teaching+models%22">Teaching models</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Systems+theory%22">Systems theory</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Employee+well-being%22">Employee well-being</searchLink> – Name: Abstract Label: Abstract Group: Ab Data: Aims Recent survey data suggests that teacher wellbeing is deteriorating (Educational Institute for Scotland: EIS, 2023) with poor wellbeing associated with greater incidence of burn-out and intention to leave the profession (Reid & Soan, 2019) which has negative impacts for schools and pupils (Dreer, 2023; Kelchtermans, 2017; Simon & Johnson, 2015). Supervision is a recommended mechanism for supporting teacher mental health and wellbeing (Education Scotland, 2023; Lawrence, 2020). However, supervision is a relatively novel concept within education (Soni, 2018). A small, but growing body of research is looking to develop education-specific frameworks and models (Cairns et al., 2023; Currie, 2023). Method This research sought to contribute to this gap by using soft systems methodology (Checkland, 2001) to work with staff groups from one secondary school to design a model of supervision which would best suit their collective needs. Utilising a researcher-developed Customer, Actors, Transformation process, World view, Owners, and Environmental constraints: CATWOE checklist to highlight potential problem areas (Checkland, 2001) and discourse analysis to analyse focus group data, a wellbeing continuum model was developed. Findings General recommendations for developing/implementing teacher supervision structures were generated, the most striking of which was to view supervision as only one component within a whole school approach to staff mental health and wellbeing (MHWB). In contrast to other studies (Cairns et al., 2023; Currie, 2023), this research does not suggest that Educational Psychologists should provide inter-professional supervision for education staff but should rather utilise their skill set to help schools develop and embed their own structures. Limitations The wellbeing continuum developed in this study is highly contextualized to High School A and is unlikely to be able to be applicable elsewhere without adaptation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] – Name: AbstractSuppliedCopyright Label: Group: Ab Data: <i>Copyright of Educational & Child Psychology is the property of British Psychological Society and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract.</i> (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) |
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| RecordInfo | BibRecord: BibEntity: Identifiers: – Type: doi Value: 10.53841/bpsecp.2025.42.3.122 Languages: – Code: eng Text: English PhysicalDescription: Pagination: PageCount: 21 StartPage: 122 Subjects: – SubjectFull: Supervision Type: general – SubjectFull: Well-being Type: general – SubjectFull: Educational support Type: general – SubjectFull: Secondary schools Type: general – SubjectFull: Mental health Type: general – SubjectFull: Teaching models Type: general – SubjectFull: Systems theory Type: general – SubjectFull: Employee well-being Type: general Titles: – TitleFull: Transforming supervision in secondary schools: Insights from Soft Systems Methodology. Type: main BibRelationships: HasContributorRelationships: – PersonEntity: Name: NameFull: Thompson-Kerr, Kimberley IsPartOfRelationships: – BibEntity: Dates: – D: 01 M: 09 Text: Sep2025 Type: published Y: 2025 Identifiers: – Type: issn-print Value: 02671611 Numbering: – Type: volume Value: 42 – Type: issue Value: 3 Titles: – TitleFull: Educational & Child Psychology Type: main |
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