<![CDATA[Academic supervision in many madrasahs often functions as administrative evaluation rather than professional learning for teachers. This study investigates how clinical academic supervision is enacted, and how it shapes the professional identity development of Islamic Religious Education (PAI) teachers in an Indonesian madrasah. Employing a qualitative phenomenological approach, the research was conducted over one academic semester in an Islamic junior secondary school. Data were generated through in-depth interviews, participatory classroom observations, and document analysis involving a principal, a vice principal, and four PAI teachers. Data analysis followed a phenomenological framework to capture participants' lived experiences. The analysis revealed three central experiential themes: a shift from evaluative control to professional trust, reflective dialogue as a source of pedagogical empowerment, and supervision as a catalyst for professional identity transformation. Through collaborative planning, classroom observation, and reflective feedback, teachers gradually reconceptualized supervision as developmental support rather than bureaucratic monitoring. These findings demonstrate that clinical academic supervision can operate as a transformative professional learning practice when grounded in dialogic reflection and trust. The study contributes to expanding instructional leadership scholarship by highlighting how supervision supports the reconstruction of PAI teacher identity within the distinctive context of madrasah education.]]>
