Looking more closely at the type of teacher behaviour toward pupils, the systematic
observation results showed that in smaller classes children were more likely to interact
with their teachers on a one-to-one basis; the child was more likely to be the focus of a
teacher's attention, whether it was on a one to one basis (by definition the child was the
focus), or in a group or the whole class; and that children in small classes also
experienced more teaching Conversely, there was more procedural talk (e.g., about
getting materials ready) in large classes. All these results were statistically significant
(see Blatchford, Moriarty, Edmonds and Martin, 2002, and Blatchford, in press, b, for
full details).
The results from the two more obviously quantitative components therefore showed that
children in small classes were more likely to interact with their teachers, there was more
teaching on a one-to-one basis, more times when children were the focus of a teacher's
attention, and more teaching overall. In short, there was more teacher task time with
pupils.
The qualitative data from end of year questionnaires and the case studies supported and
complemented these quantitative data. In brief, they showed that in smaller classes there
was more teacher support for learning, as reflected in the amount of individual attention
paid to students, and in terms of the immediate, responsive, sustained and purposeful
nature of teacher interactions with children, the depth of a teacher’s knowledge about
children, and sensitivity to individual children’s needs. In addition, classroom
management and control were easier.
Putting all the results together, from the four forms of data, we can sum up the
relationships we find between class size and teaching as follows: in smaller classes there
is 1. more teacher task time with pupils, 2. more teacher support for learning, and 3.
easier classroom management and control. Overall we propose that there is support for
the notion that in smaller classes there is more likelihood of what we call TEACHER
SUPPORT FOR LEARNING - more individualisation of teaching if you like, though
this does not imply it has to be on a one-to-one basis - it could be in group or whole class
contexts (see Blatchford, Moriarty, Edmonds and Martin, 2002, for a full account). Our
results suggest that while small classes will not make a bad teacher better, they can allow
teachers to be more effective; conversely large classes inevitably present teachers with
difficulties and the need for compromises. Our results are consistent with other recent
comments on relations between class size and teaching, and indicate that small classes
can offer opportunities for teachers to teach better (Anderson, 2000) or, to use a different
term, they can create facilitating conditions for teachers to teach and students to learn
(Wang and Finn, 2000).
Affective considerations: Compensatory efforts
An additional comment can be made on the relationship between class size and teaching.
Effective teaching may be possible in large classes, but this may be at some cost to
teachers, for example, in terms of working that much harder, and in terms of eating away
at spaces like breaks in the day. It may also affect a teacher's professional satisfaction
and enthusiasm. This theme is taken up more fully in Moriarty, Edmonds, Blatchford
and Martin (2001). This suggests that relations between class size and pupil outcomes
may therefore be minimised because of teachers' level of commitment, driven by their
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