This is an excerpt from an article in the June 1949 edition of Canadian Camping Magazine.
One Aspect of Staff Supervision in Camp – Alan Klein
Supervision of staff in camp is perhaps more important than in many other fields where it is more readily accepted – the average camp today employs untrained and often young and inexperienced staff. We have rendered lip-service to the importance of the counselor in helping camping to reach its most honoured objectives. The counselor is the key person in camp. It is he who aids the growth and development of the camper. To help those counselors do an effective job is perhaps the most important single function of administration.
Supervision implies that we, with greater experience and preparation, are responsible for helping the counselor with less experience and equipment to develop his abilities to do a more effective job, derive satisfaction from the job, and develop into a first-class staff person. The supervisor is responsible to see that a good job is done with the campers and also to see that his staff is trained to increasingly develop greater skills for the job.
Many camp directors have privately and publicly expressed the idea that there is little time in camp for supervision. A camp that runs at such a tempo or is so understaffed that there is no time for staff growth can have little time for camper growth.
The subject of supervision to be adequately treated here would take many pages. The only aspects mentioned, therefore, will be how and why of staff relations.
The camp supervisor, i.e., head counselor, personnel director, program director, or executive, has as his first big job the establishment of good relationships with his staff. he must by word and act convince them that he is interested in helping the counselor to do a good job. He must get across the idea that he is not criticizing, not being judgmental, but is concerned with the campers and staff to bring about the objectives of the camp and also for everyone to have an enjoyable and worthwhile experience. This implies that the supervisors must feel that way. He must be able to accept and like people, to recognize and give credit to the points of view of other staff members and to make them feel needed and valuable. They are people who will discuss problems with staff members, permitting and enabling them to think for themselves. That is the key to good supervision.
More often than not, it is the attitudes of the counselor that are of concern. Perhaps he is too authoritative or perhaps we think he is lazy. Both are attitudes and must be worked out. People do not learn to change by being told to or even haveing the reasonableness and logic of another attitude explained to them. Learning can, however, come through experience and sympathetic discussion of the way we do things.
Supervision of staff in camp involves certain things that are not technical and do not require the skill of a trained expert. The first is the establishment of a good relationship. This implies that the counselor is made to feel that he can discuss problems, present suggestions and count on getting help. Regular opportunities for private discussions with the supervisor are essential. To say that the supervisor will be available if needed is not sufficient, for often the person who needs it most is the last one to come. If staff are encouraged to come regularly, there is no feeling that one comes only if there are problems, or for a “talking to”.
The supervisor helps to keep the conference going by asking a few questions, making a suggestion here and there and getting the counselor to either advance a solution, get it off his chest, or perhaps get assurance that he is doing a good job. Often that which is unsaid reveals the counselor’s feelings and a wise supervisor, by asking a question or two, can bring to light what is beneath the surface. He should be a good listener and give only such information as is necessary to stimulate thinking. He encourages, praises and builds up his staff. He looks behind the deed to determine the reason for laziness, failure, inability to get his group to like him, etc., and seeks to get these things discussed. He guides the discussion through, knowing as much as he can about his counselor and by having an objective. He seeks to enable his staff person to do his job. He knows that staff have fears, and anxieties about the job, and that there must be a chance to release these tensions – and above all, he knows that a relaxed camp comes from relaxed staff.
I have not said much about techniques, skills in observation, etc. The basic skill to be learned is that of developing our own attitudes. It is easy to talk and tell the counselor what to do. It makes us feel good to show that we know the answers and can glibly rattle off solutions. It is easy to be so important, so knowledgeable, and so ready that we stifle all initiative on the part of the staff. It is easy to be authoritative and be the administrator who hands out policy. Attitudes cannot be changed that way and counselors will not reveal to such supervisors the problems about which they need the most help. We must school ourselves to be interested and sympathetic, warm and helpful. It is the humility of the teacher and his desire to work with rather than over or on, that establishes a supervisory relationship resulting in learning, growth, and above all – good camping.