Developing a Super-Vision of Education: Oh, No. I’ve Said Too Much, But Maybe I Haven’t Said Enough

Abstract

In this personal and candid essay by Carl Glickman, he examines the confluence of early experiences with his evolving concepts and theories of education, supervision, democracy, and school renewal that resulted in his studies, activities, university and school networks and partnerships, and widely read books. He covers the first 33 years of his life including being a child of immigrants and freedom from adults; academics, social life, and speech disability; identity, new worlds, and marriage; the teacher corps and forced integration of schools; the years as a principal of schools; and the origins of developmental supervision; and the significance of the Council of Professors of Instructional Supervision (COPIS). He frames the essay between the borders of saying not enough or saying too much. And between those lines, the reader may be surprised by how much unknown becomes known and what might be instructive for the next generations of educators, scholars, and activists who believe in the public purpose of education.