There are more than 155,000 settlements in our large country, many of which are so small that they do not have their own educational institutions, others have schools, but the number of students is negligible. How to organize the educational process in this situation? Within the framework of this article, we will talk about small-scale schools. Consider the principle of organizing the education and upbringing of children of different age categories, we will trace the specifics of simultaneous work with children during the lesson.
What is a small school?
With a small number of students, the formation of classes is not possible. Children have to receive primary and even secondary education in small schools. In rural schools there are 2-3 students per oneparallel. In this case, it is necessary to unite students of different classes and conduct joint classes. Let us consider in more detail the features of the organization of an ungraded school.
Currently, several tens of thousands of ungraded schools operate in the country. What are the characteristics of these schools? In the USSR, the concept of "small class" was very common, because rural schools did not enroll a sufficient number of students to form parallels. Primary classes were combined into "sets" - classes that included students of different age categories. The peculiarity of a small school is not only in the presence of sets, but also in the complete absence of some classes. For example: one class includes 5 students, 2 of them study in the 1st grade, 1 - in the 2nd, 2 - in the 4th, while the 3rd grade is completely absent in the school in this academic year.
If a rural small school is located in a certain locality, then children from nearby villages must also enroll in it for education if there are no educational institutions of this format in their place of residence.
One teacher works with a small class. The educational process is organized in such a way that all students are included in the work. This is achieved by alternating the activities of students. A large role is given to independent work, for the activities of an ungraded school - this is a necessity. While some students are busyindependent completion of the task, the teacher works with other students who need to explain other material.
In recent years, one can observe a trend in the development of small schools. This is due to the reduction in the number of children, the birth rate has decreased. General secondary schools located in large settlements are also forced to transform into small ones due to a lack of students and teachers.
Initial classes
Working with primary school children requires special attention from the teacher. The activities of an ungraded school should be aimed at the productive learning of students. Primary school children may not immediately understand the new material, which will become an obstacle when doing independent work, and the teacher is forced to switch to explaining the material to another group of students. What to do in this situation?
A teacher of a small class should be able to switch quickly when problem situations arise. If the new material is being explained to a group of children, then you can ask one of the students to read part of the paragraph. At this time, the teacher will have 1-2 minutes to approach the student who has a problem with doing independent work and help him. The conditions in a small school are not the most favorable for both students and teachers, but, over time, the team adapts to such factors.
In the primary grades, the teacher has the opportunity to work individually with each student, so the solution to most problems is muchfaster than in a classic class with a large number of students.
It can be very difficult for primary school students to concentrate on doing independent work, so the work of the teacher with other students should be moderate, without raising their voices and shouting.
Schedule classes
A lesson in an ungraded school should be organized in such a way that each student is involved in the learning process. Parallel work of the teacher with the students goes on throughout the lesson. A large role is given to the independent work of students.
Currently, there are no special aids and programs that could provide a basis for organizing the learning process in an ungraded school, so teachers must independently develop planning for joint classes. The plan should include steps for combining independent work and explaining new material. The more competently the plan is drawn up, the more productive the learning process will be.
Planning should include the following categories of student work:
- checking knowledge on the material covered;
- explaining new material;
- fixing new material in the process of independent work.
Planning can include student collaboration. The fact is that in the primary grades, some topics are repeated, consolidation occurs at different levels of complexity. You can organize a lesson that will include all students. New material for some childrenwill be a repetition for others.
For example: a math lesson in an ungraded school can take place together. At the same time, some children will get acquainted with numbers and master counting, others will learn actions, and others will solve problems.
General characteristics of a rural child
A child who grew up in a village or a village is different from a city child. He is adapted to life, work and is much more responsible. Such children grow up faster, as they are attracted to work from an early age.
As for the level of education, everything here is not as good as in the city. According to statistics, first-graders come to rural schools with a rather low level of knowledge. Many of them do not know letters and numbers, while the vast majority of urban first-graders already read and count. In the city there is an opportunity to send the child to a weekend school, in which the child will be prepared for school. Parents, as a rule, devote more time and attention to this issue. Some schools organize entrance exams that a child must pass in order to enroll in first grade, so the preparation must be serious.
Any child, even those with minor developmental disabilities, will be taken to the village school. So it turns out that a generalist teacher must sometimes work with children who, in urban life, would be placed in a specialized educational institution or a correctional class.
Organization of the educational process
BAt the beginning of the lesson, the teacher should familiarize the students with the work plan. Each group of students in the same class receives an assignment while the teacher explains the new material to other students.
A small amount of time is allotted for testing knowledge, the teacher should spend the main part of the lesson on studying and consolidating new material. If the lesson is conducted with students in three grades, then the teacher should divide the time into 3 parts, paying attention to each group of students. It turns out that most of the lesson for students should be occupied with independent work.
If a lesson is planned in the form of an excursion, then it will have to be conducted with all students. Each group of children in the same grade will have different goals for this activity. Here is an example: some children will collect samples for a herbarium, others will observe the landscape to write an essay, others will conduct experiments, etc. Each lesson involves joint work, but the forms of interaction may differ.
If it is planned to issue bulk material to one student, then for others you need to choose a lesson that involves and allows for independent completion of tasks. For example: a teacher explains the rules for punctuation in complex sentences to one group of students, while other students draw pictures on the topic "How I spent the summer" in a fine art lesson.
Due to the fact that in a small class there may not be strong students for weaker students to reach for, student interaction can beunproductive. After all, children receive a significant part of the knowledge from each other, while the assimilation of the material occurs much faster.
Educational work
Educational work in an ungraded school plays a very important role. Currently, there are a number of socio-economic factors that have a negative impact on the development and upbringing of a rural child. We list some of them:
- Multinational students. Parents of such children may have their own views on life, religion, and norms of behavior. In some cases, conflict situations may arise on this basis.
- Financial situation. In most cases, rural families have below average income. This situation does not allow parents to fully provide the child or children with everything necessary for full learning and development. The child's nutrition may be inadequate, which leads to beriberi and disease.
- Family well-being. In rural schools, children who grow up in a dysfunctional family are much more common. Parents in such families have a socially unstable position, the causes of which may be: alcoholism, immoral behavior, hooliganism, violation of the law.
Rural children are most often brought up by the street, which does not always have a positive effect on the formation of personal qualities. For this and other reasons, the school should take the issue of educational work more seriously.
Small class allows for better educational work. The teacher has the opportunity to work withstudents individually. A teacher who has detailed information about the families of children (in small towns everyone knows each other by sight), it is much easier to build a plan for the educational work of a particular student.
In some cases, the teacher will have to take on the role of a psychologist and a correctional teacher, since there are no such specialists in a rural school, and there will not be. Educational work should be carried out not only with the child, but also with his parents. The teacher-psychologist must find ways to resolve conflict situations that arise in the child at school or in the family. If the teacher sees that the parents cannot provide the child with a normal life and a favorable environment for development, in this case he is forced to respond - contact the social guardianship and guardianship authorities.
Submission of reports at the end of the academic year
At the end of the school year, each school sums up the results, which include not only the statistics of student performance, but also the results of educational, extracurricular work. Small-class school report should include the following items:
- Analysis of the effectiveness of the educational process.
- Analysis of student progress.
- Identification of class leaders and students who are lagging behind in school disciplines.
- Results of working with parents.
- Analysis of the effectiveness of the implementation of the tasks set for the academic year.
- Analysis of the final assessment of students in grades 9 and 11.
- Report on events and open lessons.
- Report on the participation of schoolchildren in district, regional andAll-Russian Olympiads.
Final reporting should be based on planning, which was compiled at the beginning of the school year. The teacher must conduct a detailed analysis of all points. The conclusions reflect information on whether the set goals were achieved and the tasks set for the academic year were completed.
Graduation and last call
Despite the fact that 2 or 3 students can graduate, the holiday must be organized. Other students and parents can be involved in holding a graduation ceremony in an ungraded school. Each of them can contribute to the organization of the holiday. The scenario of the last call in a small school should be based on the number of students and viewers.
Each child should have a role to play at the party. Children of elementary grades should be instructed to learn the poems that they will read at the holiday. The content should be something like this:
Today is an extraordinary day:
The sun rose, washed with dew, To the last lesson, farewell
Graduation class is sent.
May day on the line plays, The breeze gently whispers in the foliage, Seeing their pets on the road, The school will give them a last call.
There will be a sea of guests to worry, There will be many poems and flowers –
Oceans of thunderous applause
We welcome graduates!
To hold an event, you must select an active andcreative leader. This role can be assumed by one of the teachers. If the school has active and responsible elementary school children, you can entrust this task to them.
Be sure to invite a photographer who can capture the most memorable moments of the holiday. Every child should have their graduation photos to remind them of their carefree school life.
Be sure to give the floor to the teachers. You can do this in the following form:
We start the long-awaited holiday
And the word introduce
To whom we have been waiting for, Honored guests in our hall.
It is necessary to give the floor to the students themselves. Surely, they will want to thank the teachers for their patience, understanding and care. Words of gratitude should be prepared in advance by graduates. You can approach this issue creatively and prepare a metaphorical scene.
At the end of the holiday, a solemn presentation of matriculation certificates should be organized.
Benefits
If the educational and pedagogical processes are built correctly, then a small class becomes very close-knit and friendly, despite the age difference between children. Older guys help the kids, answer their questions, prompt.
A school of 20-30 people is like a big family in which teachers play the role of parents. The relationship between teachers and students is much closer and warmer than in a classical school.
A teacher can control each student by trackingproblems that arise in the learning process. There is an opportunity to work with students individually. A student-centered educational process is being formed, which is capable of producing excellent results.
Teacher Requirements
The learning process in an ungraded school is built a little differently than in a classical comprehensive school. There is no distribution of subjects among teachers. One teacher must lead various disciplines, which significantly increases the load on him.
A teacher in an ungraded school has to perform a wide range of different types of work, since the school lacks not only subject teachers, but also a supply manager, a librarian, a psychologist, and a correctional teacher. A generalist teacher is a multidisciplinary specialist who must not only teach different subjects, but also have an excellent understanding of them.
Sometimes it is difficult to find a person who will agree to such working conditions, because the teacher's activity is not limited to school, he must prepare for classes at home, make plans and final reports, meet and talk with parents, check notebooks, etc. e.
The peculiarities of the organization of an ungraded school include a very meager material base. Sometimes the teacher has to independently make school paraphernalia, which is necessary for conducting classes. These can be cards, posters, handouts.
The teacher must organize the learning process so that its productivity is high. If, for example, the 1st and 3rd classes are connected, thenThe teacher should pay more attention to first-graders, since they are just learning to write, read and count, and children from the third grade can be given individual tasks, the children are old enough to work independently.
Reviews
In addition to the large number of negative aspects of studying in a small class, there are also positive aspects. Teachers note that it is much easier for students of such classes to concentrate on something, they are able to quickly switch and react. Such abilities develop after several years of study in an ungraded school. After all, the student must complete his task on his own at a time when the teacher explains completely different material to other students. Rural children are growing up more independent and responsible.
