In this Master's thesis titled Different Approaches to Class Meetings in Elementary Grades 6 through 9, we studied and compared different educational approaches that class teachers of both public and private schools use for class meetings of elementary grades 6 through 9. This Master's thesis is a continuation of my Diploma thesis titled Role class teachers in upper level of primary school.
Master's thesis is divided into two parts. In the theoretical part, there's a detailed analysis of the different roles and educational approaches of a teacher and a class teacher, both from legally formal and pedagogical views within different educational concepts. We focused on the relationship between a teacher and a student and compared educational approaches and approaches of leading a class in different pedagogical concepts, both public and alternative. For each branch of alternative pedagogy, we presented an individual image of a student as well as the qualities of a teacher, who is applying these methods.
In the empirical part, we conducted qualitative research where we obtained data by using semi-structured interviews that allowed us to get an insight into the life and work of class teachers from two public and two private schools. We wanted to find out in detail which educational approaches class teachers use for their class meetings, which literature they use to prepare for these meetings, which methods they use to foster connections between students and to resolve potential conflict situations. We found out that class teachers in both public and private schools follow the goals set at the beginning of the school year and focus on current problems, which they try to resolve with conversations with students and other participants in the school, as well as using professional literature, teamwork, intuition and further education and training. They pay the most attention to relationships within the class, communicate a lot, and try social games, emphasizing mutual aid and encouraging socializing.
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