In this master's thesis entitled "Collaboration between class teachers and mathematics teachers to ease the transition of pupils from grade 5 to grade 6", we first defined what transition in the Slovenian school system means, cited two international researches which had already addressed this problem, and focused on the transition from 5th to 6th grade. Since children's primary school education is formally prescribed, we also highlighted the contents of some documents of wider scope (codes, the constitution and regulations) and focused on the curriculum, which serves as the basis for teaching. We analysed all the component parts of the curriculum and primarily centred on the differences that occur between the 5th and the 6th grade. We defined quality lessons and direct and indirect teaching. In doing so, we focused on social teaching forms (frontal teaching, group work, pair work and individual work), defined them in accordance with the didactic triangle, and discussed their advantages and limitations. Finally, we focused on cooperation between teachers and offered vertical cooperation as a special form of cooperation which has a positive impact on an individual's professional development. We defined professional development and described its 4 different models (according to Fuller, S model, Berliner and Kagan).
The primary purpose of this thesis was to determine the course of the transition of pupils from 5th to 6th grade in mathematics class, and what the possibilities are for successful cooperation and professional development of teachers in the matter. Starting from the definition of the primary problem, we set the following goals: how class teachers and mathematics teachers assess the achievement of knowledge standards by pupils transitioning from 5th to 6th grade; what, according to teachers, the possible reasons are for the failure to achieve knowledge standards at the transition from 5th to 6th grade; we also wanted to determine the level of cooperation between class teachers and mathematics teachers and identify factors that would facilitate the transition from 5th to 6th grade.
For the purposes of the empirical research, we created a non-standardised survey questionnaire, which was divided into 13 questions. We sent a link via e-mail to the 1KA open-source online survey application, in which we created the questionnaire. We managed to obtain 104 answers (from 51 class teachers and 53 subject teachers of mathematics) via non-random, convenience sampling.
The obtained results allow us to get to know the attitudes of class teachers and mathematics teachers respecting the difficulties that arise at the transition of pupils from 5th to 6th grade, as well as the solutions they apply to facilitate the transition of pupils from 5th to 6th grade. With the help of the research, we found that teachers' opinions differ regarding the degree of achievement of minimum knowledge standards for the 5th grade at the beginning of the 6th grade, and that they also evaluate differently how prepared pupils are for lessons at the beginning of the 6th grade. At the same time, all teachers are satisfied with the frequency of meetings between classroom and subject teachers with the intention of facilitating the transition from 5th to 6th grade, and understand which areas are affected by their cooperation. We came to the conclusion that cooperation is the key to facilitating the transition of pupils from 5th to 6th grade and to the teacher's professional development.
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