A narrative study on a teacher’s experience in managing a small-scale class

Objectives The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of a homeroom teacher managing a small class and to understand the significance of these experiences, in order to draw implications for policies related to small classes and teachers. Methods To achieve this, a narrative study was conducted on Teacher Hyunseo Lee (pseudonym), who is a homeroom teacher of a class consisting of six students at Wonyeong Elementary School (pseudonym), a small school located on the rural-urban boundary. Results Teacher Hyunseo Lee initially expected that the small class size would allow her to operate the curriculum according to her educational beliefs. However, she faced difficulties due to the panoptic-like surveillance system of the school, which required her to manage numerous administrative tasks and class management on her own. Additionally, she encountered challenges related to the contextual characteristics of small classes in the process of guiding students' behavior and learning. Nevertheless, the small class size, which allowed for flexible use of classroom space, enabled her to partially realize her educational beliefs during everyday lessons, leading to the educational growth of her students. Through this process, she found a sense of fulfillment as a teacher and developed a positive view of her profession. Conclusions Teacher Hyunseo Lee's experience in managing a small class provided her with an opportunity to reflect on her existential meaning as a teacher and confirmed the value of small classes for effective learning and behavior guidance. Based on these experiences, implications for small class and teacher policies were suggested.