Whatever Happened To The Supervisor Of The Smith-Hughes Man?

Abstract

Prior to the passage of the Smith-Hughes Act in 1917 there were essentially no statewide supervisory positions. Supervision was provided to agricultural education teachers by local principals and teacher educators. With the passage of the Smith-Hughes Act supervision became much more formal and oriented to rule enforcement. The objectives of this study includeddeterminingsupervision in agricultural education prior to passage of the Smith-Hughes Act, determining how the Smith-Hughes Act influenced supervision, determining issuesfor supervision between 1930 and 1959, and determining issuesfor supervision between 1960 and 1980. Many decisions had to be made on not only the supervisor's role, but also on qualifications. The role evolved from one of the "ironfisted" supervisor to the consultant of the 1970s. The supervisory visit was not always welcomed by practicing teachers. Some viewed the position as doing what the teacher educator should be doing. The century is ending as it began with most of the supervision being provided by local administrators in the form of vocational directors and by teacher educators.