Single-teacher schools in Costa Rica: strenghts and limitations

Abstract

This article presents the results of the research work “Las escuelas unidocentes de Costa Rica: fortalezas y limitaciones” (Single-teacher schools in Costa Rica: strenghts and limitations). Research's methodology is based on mixed methods. It has three parts; in the first one, general aspects of those teaching schools are identified using data from the Statistics Department of the Ministry of Education (MEP), such as teaching staff's professional profile, coverage, location, and rates for course completion, exclusion and failure in the second part, a meaningful sample of single-teacher subjects from all over the country is selected, and data on management and organization, infrastructure, teaching and technological material, planning, pedagogical practice, community and family relationships is collected, among other things. In the third instance, an ethnographic study is carried out in four single-teacher institutions graded as successful by the Ministry of Public Education, with the goal of observing and researching how the curriculum is being developed in these teaching schools.

The study concludes by saying that, despite some efforts to improve those educational schools have been made by the Ministry of Education, the State has not considered single-teacher schools a priority.