In the article, an attempt was made to demonstrate the usefulness of the concept of administration as a humanistic field of knowledge, developed by representatives of the sciences of administration, management, and economics, in research on school administration, with particular emphasis on school supervision. Referring to the postulate to include historical experiences in the plan of creating a human-oriented administration, the subject of interest was the history of school supervision. The author analysed the impact of up-to-date methodological approaches on the image of the former school inspector, and made suggestions that could extend the said studies with new, previously unnoticed aspects and objectify them. In reference to these proposals of interpretation, the author referred to the history of school supervision in Poland, presenting the examples of sources that may help build a humanistic dimension of school inspections.