In the past decade, Czech public schools have experienced a boom of classes with a special emphasis on a specific subject or offering an innovative educational approach (Waldorf, Montessori, Intuitive Pedagogy). These classes with a special emphasis (hereinafter: specialized classes) are nothing new in the European context; Germany and Finland are experiencing a similar trend (Koivuhovi, Vainikainen, Kalalahti, & Niemivirta, 2019; Krieg, Stubbe, Nonte, & Haas, 2019). For example, in some larger Finnish cities, up to thirty percent of comprehensive school pupils attend these classes, separated from their peers in regular classes (Berisha & Seppänen, 2017; Varjo & Kalalahti, 2019). In Finland, specialized classes are allowed to select pupils on the basis of aptitude tests in the subject that is emphasized rather than neighborhood allocation, enabling schools to alter their socioeconomic composition (Kosunen, 2014). In European educational research, specialized classes are typically discussed in relation to educational equity as a result of their potential to divide pupils on the basis of achievement and socioeconomic status.

In the Czech Republic, specialized classes might pose an even greater threat to educational equity than in other European countries. Unlike in Finland (Varjo & Kalalahti, 2019), Czech principals are free to open such classes at any time thanks to the highly decentralized curriculum. Only in the case of opening a bilingual class must principals first receive permission from the Ministry of Education. For this reason, specialized classes can spread freely within the public school system and are difficult for a central authority to monitor (Straková & Simonová, 2015). While Finland and Germany mostly feature these classes at the secondary school level (Berisha & Seppänen, 2017; Krieg et al., 2019), Czech schools have recently begun to establish specialized classes as early as in the first grade. Consequently, pupils accepted into these classes may never meet their peers in regular classes. Such early tracking might lead not only to growing disparities in achievement, but also to an increasingly divided society. Furthermore, the attendance of specialized classes in the Czech context is often associated with hidden fees, hindering some parents from applying while simultaneously supplying the specialized classes with additional resources (Smith Slámová, 2018). For these reasons specialized classes in the Czech Republic deserve attention.

The aim of the present study is to compare the learning conditions in regular and bilingual classes in two public schools. The assumption guiding the study was that pupils attending the same school should have access to education of a similar quality, no matter what class their parents select for them. Though some between-class variation in teacher quality and class composition is inevitable, one type of class should not systematically represent a more advantageous educational option. Bilingual classes were selected as a type of specialized class that might pose a risk to educational equity, as they had previously been criticized by the media and the Czech School Commission for collecting hidden fees and allowing private organizations to interfere with the school’s decision making (Blažková, 2014; Česká školní inspekce, 2014). Given the focus of the research, bilingual education in itself was not examined. Rather, the goal was to compare how a pupil’s educational experience can differ depending on whether he or she attends a bilingual or a regular class at the same school.

The research was supported by the Charles University Grant Agency (project no. 58420 titled The choice of selective classes in public primary schools).

The study used an ethnographic approach nested within the design of a case study (Yin, 2003) to allow for an in-depth exploration of the rather unknown topic. Before entering the field, the researcher first became sensitized to the learning conditions that most affect pupil achievement by studying John Hattie’s publications (2009, 2012), as well as empirical studies relevant to the Czech context. The data collection was guided by the goal of uncovering any differences between bilingual and regular classes that might translate into different learning outcomes, focusing on four main areas: classroom characteristics, teacher characteristics, teaching methods, and curriculum. A variety of data collection methods were employed, including semi-structured interviews with principals (n = 2) and teachers (n = 12), classroom observations (15 hours), school document analysis, and attendance at two information events for parents. First, School A was approached through an acquaintance in the teaching staff. At this school, located in an affluent area, the bilingual class is run by a private organization that formally collects school fees for an afterschool program. The fees are then used to equip the bilingual classroom with modern technologies, supplement teacher salaries, and provide additional teaching resources (e.g., English books, worksheets, and a carpet for group work). This organization also has considerable power in influencing the curriculum, pupil selection, and teacher hiring. Then School B was selected to differ in areas that emerged from the analysis as potentially relevant to the research question (cost of the bilingual class, organization of the class, and socioeconomic composition of the school). Upon the open coding of interview transcripts and field notes, a within-case and a cross-case analysis was conducted, identifying the main differences between regular and bilingual classes at each school and exploring the mechanisms that might explain them.

The study revealed that bilingual and regular classes differed mostly in terms of class composition, with striking parallels between the bilingual classes at both schools. The pupils attending the bilingual classes were generally high-performing children of university-educated parents, aiming to leave the school for the selective academic track (Gymnázium) at the end of the fifth grade. The pupils in regular classes, on the other hand, were characterized by lower achievement, lower socioeconomic status, and lower study aspirations, as well as by less disruptive classroom behavior. The differences in class composition occurred at both schools despite School B using no aptitude tests and collecting no hidden fees. The research revealed several mechanisms that might have affected the pupil composition of the classes, including: 1) the discouragement of certain parents from choosing the bilingual class by teachers, 2) providing limited or misleading information during school events, and 3) targeting middle-class parents in advertising materials. In addition to their class makeup, bilingual classes were distinguished by a less formal teacher-student relationship, more frequent use of modern technologies and group work, and, in the case of School A, an accelerated curriculum overseen by the private organization. These classes also featured a smaller class size, younger teachers, more male teachers, and a different seating arrangement. Parental desires could have played a role in determining many of these differences. The study served as a qualitative probe into the differences between classes that can occur within the same school, raising concerns about the manner in which some specialized classes are currently run at the primary school level. Follow-up studies should explore the mechanisms through which schools influence class composition, parents’ impact on the schools’ decision to run specialized classes, and the feasibility of principals running specialized classes while providing fair educational opportunities for all pupils.

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