| The problem of the study was to conduct an analysis of the question "Is clinical supervision in the field of education a profession?" Supervision is frequently called a profession. Studies have been undertaken and programs for pre- and in-service training developed based on the assumption that educational supervision and the supervisors in this field should develop those characteristics of a profession that are not yet articulated (e.g., a code of ethics, the right of client confidentiality). A review of the literature shows that considerations and examinations of the professional status of supervision and clinical supervision are generally superficial and undertaken in an effort to show how, rather than whether, supervision is a profession.;The study applied selected techniques of logical analysis of the question of whether clinical supervision in education is a profession. While the study does not completely answer the question of the professional status of educational or instructional supervision generally, it does provide an analysis of central issues related to the nature, function, and status of clinical supervision. It also demonstrates a method that may be applied to other forms of instructional and educational supervision.;The meaning of profession is elaborated through: a review of its historical and general meanings; an extensive review of conceptual definitions developed by sociologists and other students of profession; and a review of related terms that serve to highlight the specific meaning of the term. The meaining of clinical supervision is developed: by establishing the meaning of educational and instructional supervision and by showing how they provide a context for clinical supervision; by tracing the historical development of clinical supervision; and by analyzing several models of clinical supervision including those put forward by Cogan, Goldhammer, Mosher and Purpel, Champagne, Seager, Lapcevic, Garman, Acheson and Gall, and Boyan and Copeland. These models are analyzed in terms of goals, services, means, people involved, needs to which they respond, and knowledge and skills upon which they are based.;The question itself was analyzed by considering the sense of the proposition and by examing the information implicit in asking the question-the answer is not known and it is suspected that clinical supervision may be a profession. Four possible meanings were suggested for the question. Is the clinical supervisor professional? Are the practices of the clinical supervisor professional kinds of practices? Does the occupational group manifest the characteristics we note in professional groups? Do the fundamental characteristics of clinical supervision and does the social context in which it exists resemble what is expected for a profession?;Based on the analysis, it was possible to make some general observations about the answer to the question of the professional status of clinical supervisors. In the sense that the colloquial use of professional implies rational, objective and ethical behaviors manifested by professional practitioners, clinical supervisors are professional. In terms of a comparison between the observable characteristics of the institution of clinical supervision and of professional institutions no similarities were observed. Finally, in terms of the kind of need clinical supervison meets and the types of service it offers, significant similarities were noted between professions and clinical supervision. While the knowledge and skill base of clinical supervision is theoretically similar to that of a profession, there is a lack of similarity in practice. |
