Designing a Paradigmatic Model of Teachers’ Transition from Rural Multigrade Classrooms to Urban Single-Grade Classrooms: Implications for Educational Planning

Articles in Press

Document Type : research article

Authors

1 Department of Educational Sciences, Farhangian University. Tehran, Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Sciences, University of Kurdistan, Sanandaj,Iran

10.22080/eps.2026.32311.2437

Abstract

Aim: Multi-grade rural classrooms play an important role in providing education in sparsely populated areas; however, their demanding conditions may lead some teachers to transfer to single-grade urban classrooms. Therefore, this study aimed to develop a paradigm model of teachers’ transition from multi-grade rural classrooms to single-grade urban classrooms and explain its implications for educational planning.
Methodology: This qualitative study was conducted using a systematic grounded theory approach. The participants included 18 teachers who had experience teaching in rural multigrade classrooms and had later moved to urban single-grade classrooms. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and analyzed through open, axial, and selective coding. MAXQDA software was used for data management.
Results: The central phenomenon was “wearing transition toward professional stability.” The causal conditions included “compulsory entry, point-based exit” and “multidimensional service exhaustion.” The contextual conditions included “rural context producing multigrade classrooms” and “heterogeneous classroom setting.” The intervening conditions included “supports slowing down transition” and “emotional-professional capital.” The strategies included “resilience until transfer,” “pursuing a less exhausting transition,” and “conditional reform-oriented retention.” The consequences included “restoration of instructional focus” and “relief mixed with nostalgia.”
Conclusions and suggestions: Transition from multi-grade to single-grade classrooms is a gradual process toward professional stability shaped by professional, educational, and supportive conditions. Strengthening professional support and revising retention policies for multi-grade teachers are therefore recommended.
Innovation and originality: The study develops a process-oriented conceptual model that explains how conditions, strategies, and consequences interact during teachers’ transition, providing a conceptual basis for educational planning.

Keywords

Main Subjects

References

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Journal of Educational Planning Studies

Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 06 March 2027

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History

  • Receive Date: 04 July 2026
  • Revise Date: 01 August 2026
  • Accept Date: 03 August 2026

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