Relationships Between Supervisory Behaviors and School Climate as Perceived by Secondary School Teachers in the State of Kuwait

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the perceptions of secondary school teachers of their principals‟ supervisory behaviors and of their schools‟ climate. Furthermore, the study examined the relationship between supervisory behaviors and school climate in Kuwaiti secondary schools. Data was collected using two surveys. Bulach, Boothe, and Michael‟s (1999) survey was used to assess supervisory behaviors of principals as perceived by teacher. The School Climate Survey, which was developed by Gruenert (2008), was used to assess school climate. The participants of the study consisted of 575 male and female secondary school teachers from six school districts. The participants were selected randomly. The study results revealed that there were significant differences in perceived supervisory behaviors based on gender and district. Female teachers‟ perceived their female principals‟ ability in supervisory behaviors to be higher than male teachers viewed their principals. Also, there were significant differences in school climate based on gender and district. Male teachers‟ perceptions were more positive toward school climate than female teachers‟ perceptions.‟ Significant correlation was found between supervisory behaviors and school climate. Implications for findings and recommendations for future research are discussed.