Should headmasters 'supervise' teachers' performance?

The other day, I was part of a consultation programme on school leadership at Thiruvananthapuram in Kerala. Its objective was to develop a design for leadership training for high school headmasters, to be implemented by the government. Distinguished consultants from India and UK took part in the event. 

A particular aspect that came up for discussion was monitoring of teacher-effectiveness by the headmasters. Is it desirable for a headmaster to walk into a classroom and to take a seat there while the class is going on? Many, including the foreign experts, thought it was ok to do it.

I begged to differ. I said that I will not welcome a headmaster to sit in my class to observe my teaching with a view to give feedback. And if I were a headmaster, I would never do such a thing to a teacher. For me, it is a matter of reverence to the teacher as an individual. 

“Reverence is due to every living thing and to its growth.” - Ruth Cohn

Aren’t there other ways in which the headmaster can assess and ensure the teachers effectiveness?

In Maldives, where I have conducted teacher-effectiveness workshops in more than 10 schools, they have supervisors to monitor teachers’ performance. Similar system is seen in UAE too. 

I told the management of the Maldivian schools about the impropriety of the designation ‘supervisor’. It literally means to look from above (to find fault) and is irreverent. Hence they changed the designation to ‘Leading Teachers’. A school in UAE is also considering the same.

Interestingly, in both these countries, the so-called supervisors do not teach, and therefore have no opportunity to experience the classroom challenges that constantly change along with changes in the society. These supervisors are considered ‘above teaching’ and ‘above teachers’. 

This is a hierarchy paradigm, which we need to replace with net-working paradigm.

“Don’t go in front of me, I don’t want to be led. Don’t come behind me, I don’t want to lead. Come walk by my side and be my friend.”

Both the issues mentioned in this post are related to teacher empowerment. I would like to know how headmasters and teachers respond to these issues, especially the appropriateness of headmaster walking into a class to critically observe the teaching process, and also the practice of appointing ‘supervisors’ to monitor teaching-learning processes. Do let me know your thoughts.