Pedagogy in Small Finnish Primary Schools: Social Advantages and Ignored Pedagogical Possibilities of Multi-grade Teaching

Author(s):

Eeva Kaisa Hyry-Beihammer(presenting / submitting)

Conference:

ECER 2012

Network:

19. Ethnography

Format:

Paper

Session Information

19 SES 02, Parallel Paper Session

Parallel Paper Session
Joint Session with NW 14

Time:

2012-09-18

15:15-16:45

Room:

ESI 2 - Aula 3

Chair:

Dennis Beach

Contribution

The purpose of this paper is to study teaching practices in multi-grade classes in small primary schools. A small school is defined here as a school with fewer than fifty students. Usually it is a village primary school (grades 1–6) locating in a rural area. Typically there are two or three teachers teaching different grades in the same class; this is called multi-grade or multi-age teaching (see, Cornish, 2006). Small schools are under the threat of closing in Finland and also in many other European countries. In the school year 2009–2010 there were 722 small schools in Finland. During the last twenty years, the number of small Finnish primary schools has decreased by 65%. (Statistics Finland) Closures of small schools are often explained by economic reasons: small schools are too expensive, and it is cost-effective to transport children from villages to bigger centre schools (see, e.g., Knauf, 2010, p. 162). It seems that the significance and possibilities of pedagogy in small schools have been ignored when schools are closed. For example, many school reforms have already been experienced in small schools in multi-grade classes.

As advantages of multi-grade teaching have been mentioned pupil-centred learning and teaching processes, flexible teaching, family-like and secure atmosphere, and ease of innovative change. However, there has been a lack of research in this area. The research question is, What kinds of teaching practices are used in multi-grade classes? Thus the research question focuses on the micro-level of the school pedagogy (cf. Fend, 2006, pp. 120–121) to clarify which learning and teaching possibilities and resources are supported or available in multi-grade classes. To understand pedagogy in multi-grade teaching Peter Petersen’s (1927/2001) study of multi-age group processes and Matti Koskenniemi’s (1982) ideas of social education are used as a theoretical framework.

Method

The research approach is narrative (Riessmann 2008) and ethnographic (Pink 2009). As empirical data are used narrative teacher interviews (n=4), and teaching observations that have been collected in one rural small school in northern Finland during 2010–2012. There are three teachers and three multi-grade classes, altogether 45 students from preschool to the 6th grade in the school, and there are both novice and expert teachers. One teacher is a native villager and other teachers come from the neighbour municipality. The data is completed with teachers’ writings (n=10) that have been collected through the writing request where teachers were asked to tell literally about their own pedagogy in small schools. From the basis of the content analysis is explored how multi-age group processes and social forms are used in multi-grade teaching. Especially I am interested in natural processes of helping and being helped in multi-age groups defined by Petersen (1927/2001, 87); so to say co-operation or peer learning with the concepts of the day. I will also study these processes of co-operation or peer learning in multi-age classes through Lev Vygotskij’s (2002) socio-cultural learning theory.

Expected Outcomes

From the basis of the first research results it seems that the village schools appear safe and familiar environment of education. Different forms of co-operation between students, teachers, and also locals are used in teaching. However, especially expert teachers intend to work as multi-age teachers looking at each student as an individual and orienting their teaching according to each individual’s needs. Novice teachers are worried about students’ sufficient possibilities to develop those cognitive capabilities in heterogeneous age groups. They express unsureness about how to share their time and to use different forms of student groups in a multi-grade class to enhance learning in a best possible way. For beginner teachers multi-grade teaching is demanding especially if they have no earlier practice experience about it – there are only a few studies of multi-grade pedagogy in Finnish teacher education.

References

Cornish, L. (2006). What is multi-grade teaching? In L. Cornish (ed.), Reaching EFA through multi-grade teaching (pp. 9–26). Armidale, Australia: Kardoorair Press. Fend, H. (2006). Neue Theorie der Schule. Einführung in das Verstehen von Bildungssystemen. Berlin: VS Verlag für Sozialwissenschaften. Knauf, A. (2010) Kleine Grundschule in Brandenburg – eine Neueorientuerung mit jahrgangsübergreifenden Stammgruppen. In R. Laging (Ed.), Altergemischtes Lernen in der Schule 4. Ed. (pp. 160–168). Grundlagen der Schulpädagogik 28. German: Schneider Verlag Hohengehren. Koskenniemi, M. 1982. Yhdessä ja yhteistoimin [Together and collaborating]. Helsinki: Otava. Petersen, P. 1927/2001. Die Kleine Jena-Plan einer freien allgemeinen Volkschule. Based on revised edition by Petersen from 1949. Weinheim: Belz. Pink, S. 2009. Doing sensory ethnography. Sage: London. Riessman, C. K. 2008. Narrative Methods for the human sciences. Thousand Oaks: Sage. Statistics Finland. Statistics of Education 1990-2010. Vygotskij, L. 2002. Denken und Sprechen: psychologische Untersuchungen. Herausgegeben und aus dem Russischen übersetzt von Joachim Lompscher und Georg Rückriem. Weinheim: Beltz.

Author Information

Eeva Kaisa Hyry-Beihammer (presenting / submitting)

University of Oulu/ University of Salzburg, Austria

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