The Perception and Attitudes of Teachers Towards Class Sizes in Secondary Schools

Abstract

This study aimed to examine the perception of teachers to teaching large and poorly resourced classes in Albanian secondary schools. Moreover the study further investigated the influence of experience and qualification of teachers’ perception on this issue. A qualitative study was conducted on a sample of Albanian teachers to investigate on issues related to functions and disadvantages of smaller classes. Findings indicated that the Albanian teachers perceived class size as important factors to facilitate classroom management, teaching effectiveness, student-teacher interactions, and teachers’ workloads. Still, the main concern remains with the fact that a reduction in class size will result in an increase in teaching staff, which could bring teacher quality down. This uncertainty in teacher quality makes the process of identifying or negative impacts on student performance more difficult.

DOI: 10.5901/ajis.2016.v5n3s1p132