Strengthening Teacher Professional Competence Through Principal's Academic Supervision Program

Abstract

Teacher professional competence remains a persistent challenge in Indonesian elementary education, where academic supervision by school principals is mandated as a key mechanism for teacher development yet is frequently implemented suboptimally. This study employed a qualitative case study design to investigate the strategies implemented by the principal of SDN Sukasari, Kecamatan Kadupandak, Kabupaten Cianjur, to strengthen teacher professional competence through academic supervision. Data were collected from eight classroom teachers, the school principal, and one educational supervisor through in-depth interviews, classroom observations, and document analysis, and were analyzed using the Miles, Huberman, and Saldaña thematic analysis framework. Trustworthiness was ensured through methodological triangulation and member-checking. The findings reveal that a structured four-stage supervisory approach (planning, organizing, implementing, and monitoring) produced measurable improvements in lesson plan completeness, instructional method diversity, learning media use, and reflective practice participation. An unexpected finding was the seniority-based differential in teacher engagement, with senior teachers responding more favorably to peer-facilitated reflection than to principal-led feedback. These findings affirm that systematic, developmentally oriented academic supervision, anchored in transformational leadership, is an effective mechanism for enhancing teacher professional competence in elementary schools, and contribute a career-stage differentiation perspective that extends the existing supervision literature.