The Degree Practice of the School Principal as a Resident Supervisor in Improving the Teachers’ Professional Growth from the Teachers’ Perspective in the West Bank Private Schools

This study aimed at identifying the degree practice of the school principal as a resident supervisor in improving the teachers’ professional growth from the teachers’ perspective in the West Bank private schools. Furthermore, this study sought to find out the impact of the study variables, namely, sex, academic qualification, experience, level of school and governorate, on the degree practice of the school principal as a resident supervisor in improving the teachers’ professional growth from the teachers’ perspective in the West Bank private schools. To these two ends, the researcher developed a questionnaire based on previous theoretical literature and relevant studies. The 55-item questionnaire was tested for both reliability and validity. Reliability was checked by submitting the study instrument to a number of referees. Cronbach's Alpha ( coefficient) was used to test validity of the instrument. It was found to be (0.933). Then the questionnaire was administered to randomly chosen sample of 548 teachers of both sexes. The population of the study was all males and females teachers( 5,606) in the West Bank private schools. After data collection, SPSS was used for analysis of the results. After data analysis, it was found that the total score of the degree practice of the school principal as a resident supervisor in improving the teachers’ professional growth from the teachers’ perspective in the West Bank private schools, was high. The score was(3.8132) or (76.3%), a high percentage according to the scale used in this study. It was also found that there were no statistically significant differences at (α= 0.05) which could be attributed to the variables of sex, academic qualification and educational stage. However, it was found that there were statistically significant differences at (α= 0.05) which could be attributed to the variable of experience and these differences were in favor of teachers who had less than five years of experience. There were, also, statistically significant differences at (α= 0.05) which could be attributed to the variable of governorate and they were in favor of the central governorates. In the light of the study findings, the researcher recommends that the principal respect more the teachers’ opinions when they participate in debates and discussions. She also suggests that the principal take decisions through participatory methods. The researcher also emphasizes the importance of holding training courses and seminars to discuss modern teaching methods in educational materials. Finally, the researcher calls for similar studies on this topic in government schools in the West Bank.