MANAGING A PRIMARY SCHOOL CLASS: AN EMPIRICAL STUDY

Abstract

The main purpose of our research was to investigate how to practically manage a primary school class. In the course of the empirical section, we collected teachers' opinions about the perception of students' conduct by means of a standardized questionnaire. The results obtained are interesting: Teachers give a considerable value to collaboration among students, teachers and parents as a factor which influences the behaviour of the class in a positive way. Our results indicate that preestablished rules of correct behaviour (i.e. behaviour contract) create a more mature sense of responsibility in children that young. Finally, the results show that the teachers we tested have sometimes difficulty to manage the class and, on the contrary, use old repressing discipline.

We suppose it may be caused by two reasons: the former is that teachers need to go deep into competences about managing an elementary class both theorically as practically during teacher's curriculum studiorum and training. The latter is that our pupils live during an historical period in which everything seems allowed; sometimes, families are loosing their leading role and are unable to give the young generation specific rules to behave the right way. Because of this, primary schools and teachers are often asked to be the most important point of reference for pupils. In our opinion this is an impossible demand for schools and teachers; we do suggest this problem has to be solved by a tight cooperation between school and family. The two institutions must have a leading role working together to train young generation to become responsible adults in a very near future.