Teachers in two-teacher schools in Northern Ireland say "the stress and guilt involved in trying to deliver an effective curriculum under extremely difficult circumstances" is "soul-destroying".
This is one of the findings of a report of the small primary schools project set up by the Northern Ireland Education and Library Boards' Regional Training Unit. It surveyed 34 two-, three- and four-teacher schools.
The report concludes that small schools with three or more teachers are "on the whole confident in their delivery of the curriculum". However, teachers in two-teacher schools "lacked confidence" in their ability to deliver the detailed study programmes laid down by the British statutory curriculum for five- to 11-year-olds.
The report identifies a number of management problems for small schools. These include the requirement for many principals to combine "the twin duties of being a classroom teacher, usually with a composite class, and undertaking an increasingly complex management role". Coping with a principal's duties, a mixed-ability class and formal assessment procedures led to "feelings of inadequacy, stress and guilt".
Principals were "very pressurised" because of having to cope with the implementation of the new statutory curriculum. Two-teacher principals stressed the tensions, low staff morale and inability to plan on a long-term basis caused by "the continual fear of school closures".
There is little evidence that many small schools have played a key role in their local communities, despite this claim frequently being put forward as a reason for their retention. "The principals themselves dismiss this argument and recognise that if their schools are to survive they will have to do so because of the education they offer the children and not because of the social implications of closure."
The project grouped the 34 participating schools into 10 "clusters" to see how some of the problems they faced could be dealt with through co-operation. The schools felt they had benefited from this experiment, with the children being offered a more interesting and challenging curriculum and the teachers gaining in confidence.
The report concludes that small schools must pool resources, and particularly staff expertise, if they are to offer their children the range of experience children in larger schools often receive. It says some formal confederation-style model is desirable.