How Does the School Management Assign Teachers to Classes at Selective Elementary Schools?

Abstract

The Czech education system allows pupils to be assigned to schools and classes on the basis of their ability and achievements. There is currently a trend of increasing numbers of primary schools applying long-term selection of pupils within the school. The topic of teacher allocation is also closely linked to the distribution of pupils into different types of classes. This text aims to verify whether the management of the three selective schools deliberately assigns teachers to classes and what criteria affect them. A descriptive case study and anchored theories were identified as a research strategy to meet this goal. The data collection methods that were chosen included analysis of teacher allocation to classrooms in relevant documents (SVP, schedules, annual reports), in-depth semi-structured interviews with school management and teachers, and analysis of the results of comparative tests of pupils within schools. The results show that management follows different criteria in their choice, justifying eff orts to educate the pupils of the selection pathway as effectively as possible. Teachers are assigned to classes on the basis of a leadership choice that is based on the quality teacher's own criteria – the selection classes are assigned to "better-quality" teachers, or it is an eff ort by management to recruit only such teachers so that they no longer have to choose and can assign teachers to classes in an "alternate" or "random" way. But in each of the cases, the leadership's eff ort was to live up to a deeper curriculum in the selection class, with more demanding content and thoughtful didactic methods. The selected schools have become an interesting example of teacher allocation to classes, which affects not only the teaching process but also the results of the pupils themselves.

Keywords: teacher allocation, pupil differentiation, principal choice, primary school, case study.