The Implementation of Strategic Planning in Developing Private Schools’ Supervisors’ Practices in Muscat, Oman

The current study aimed to investigate the implementation of strategic planning in developing private schools’ supervisors’ practices in Muscat, Oman; and to evaluate their perceived effects on fostering senior teachers’ continuous professional development (CPD). Teacher CPD is mainly fostered by supervisory practices that are guided and directed by senior management’s new initiative which is strategic planning (SP) in this context. Thus, an attempt was made to make the connections between the three topics to create a conceptual framework which can be used as a basis to answer the questions of the current study.

A mixed-method design was used to collect and analyse data. The main aim was to corroborate between qualitative and quantitative data through triangulation. Three senior managers, 31 supervisors and 200 senior teachers participated in the study. Data were collected sequentially through analysing 17 documentary analysis, conducting 33 semi-structured interviews, and administering 231 questionnaires. The findings revealed that supervisors used between three to five steps in creating their supervisory plans (plan preparation, SWOT analysis, plan formulation, implementation, evaluation). However, there were variations between supervisors in different subjects and between supervisors within the same subject in applying these steps.

The outcomes also showed that there were some benefits which were achieved from implementing SP in educational supervision. Examples of these benefits included having a unified vision, collecting and analysing data, working collaboratively with other sections, and avoiding disorganisation at work. Senior teachers’ responses showed that they were highly satisfied with supervisory practices and asked for more supervisory visits to get more guidance and support.

On the other hand, some challenges were encountered by supervisors in implementing strategic planning such as shortages of supervisors’ supplies, insufficient strategic planning training, limited follow-ups by senior managers, and resistance to change. Therefore, some suggestions were provided to overcome these challenges.