Early school transfer: teacher voices

Abstract

This empirical research involves the investigation of teachers’ perceptions of a school transfer scheme whereby children aged 11+ years transfer permanently from primary to secondary school four weeks before the end of the summer term, in mid‐June, in a small English town. Expressed perceptions of the secondary school staff concerning the innovative scheme were obtained via questionnaire during a staff meeting in 2006. Grice’s Cooperative Principle was employed to assess the trustworthiness of questionnaire responses. Results suggest that three teacher variables are associated with contrasting perceptions: years working at the school; amount of Year 7 and Year 8 teaching; and serving as a Year 7 tutor. Greatest contrasts were found in relation to teachers’ perceptions of (1) work‐life balance, (2) benefits to students and (3) the nature and quantity of the teacher’s work. Results have implications within and beyond the study school, notably for school pyramids contemplating such a scheme.

Keywords:

• school transfer
• teacher workload
• teacher voice
• perception

Acknowledgements

The authors wish to acknowledge with gratitude the cooperation of the Headteacher, the School Transfer Coordinator and all other teachers and support staff in the study school.