Parents’ Perceptions of and Concerns About Composite Classes

• In Event: CANCELLED: Interrelations Between Community, Family, and the Individual: A Triarchic Examination of Learning

Abstract

Purpose/Theoretical Framework. This paper reports the results of a study into parents' perceptions of and concerns about composite (combination/split) classes. The paper is part of a symposium investigating Phan's triarchic framework of student learning, which posits the multi-layered interrelationships between the community, family and the individual learner. This study relates directly to the family-community context, and indirectly to individuals via parents’ perceptions of their child’s learning.
Methods/Data Sources. The mixed methods study was carried out in a rural elementary school in Australia. A conceptual model was developed based on the conclusions of an extensive two-part literature review into (1) composite classes and (2) parents' perceptions of and concerns about these classes. Variables in the model were parents' Knowledge/experience of composite classes, and how this knowledge influenced their perceptions of Development, Identity, and being in the Younger or Older grade of a composite class. Parents completed a questionnaire with both Likert-scale and open-response items. The conceptual model was tested quantitatively by causal modelling procedures and findings were triangulated with the results of descriptive and qualitative analyses.
Scholarly Significance/ Results. Previous reports of parents' views have been second-hand via principals and teachers. This study thus represents a significant advance in first-hand knowledge. Parents' perceptions of and concerns about their child's development relate to their perceptions of the role played by grade identity. Both development and identity are perceived to be affected in different ways by being in the younger or older grade of a composite class. Parents expressed different views for different children, indicating in many cases a strong individual focus rather than generalised perceptions about a composite class.
Some specific findings were validated. Specifically, a significant relationship between parents' Knowledge/experience of composite classes and Development was confirmed, substantiating their concerns about their child's academic progress as well as social development in a composite class. Social issues featured prominently in parents' reports of their concerns, in particular the issue of reduced friendship choice and isolation from grade peers. This isolation also influenced parent's perceptions of the effect on grade Identity when students were placed in a composite class. Identity was felt to be compromised more for students in the Older grade of a composite class and particularly for students who were in a composite class for their last year of primary school. Most positive perceptions of a composite class related to the Younger grade.
Conclusions. Better understanding of the precise nature of parents' perceptions and concerns means such concerns can be addressed. It also means further studies can be carried out to see if there are similar findings in rural areas where the "community" aspect of the Triarchic Framework is generally stronger, including in developing countries where the commitment to the second Millennium Development Goal of achieving universal primary education has led to provision of schools with "multi-grade" classes. While there are significant differences between urban composite and rural multi-grade classes, issues relating to development and identity, and the younger or older grade of a combined class, are pertinent in both contexts.

Author

• Linley Cornish, University of New England