Investigating the Teachers’ Pedagogical Practices in Multi-Grade Primary Schools: A Sociological Approach

Abstract

This research paper makes use of Basil Bernstein’s theoretical framework to investigate the pedagogical practices of teachers who work in multi-grade Greek primary schools, and the factors that influence the shaping of these particular pedagogical practices of theirs. The research was carried out using the research tool of the semi-structured interview with the participation of 16 teachers. The main findings of this study revealed that teachers in multi-grade primary schools implement mixed pedagogical practices which combine elements from both a visible and an invisible pedagogy. In particular, visible pedagogical practices were implemented during the teaching of subjects that are considered to be the primary subjects, such as Language and Mathematics. What’s more, it was discovered that there was a weakening of the evaluation criteria during the teaching of subjects considered to be secondary, such as History. Finally, the operational teaching conditions in the primary schools as well as administrative factors appeared to influence the shaping of the pedagogical practices that the teachers implemented.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0006/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>