Challenges teachers working in multigrade classrooms: A narrative inquiry

In this study, it was aimed to reveal what the teachers working in multigrade classes experienced while working and the problems they encountered in this process. The problem sentence for which an answer is sought is "What are the problems that teachers working in multigrade classes face during their duties and what are the solutions they put forward in the face of these problems?" has been determined. This study was carried out in the narrative research pattern, which is one of the qualitative research methods. The study group of the research consists of teachers working in multigrade classes in Şahinbey district of Gaziantep province in the 2022-2023 academic year. The study group was determined using the snowball sampling method. A semi-structured interview form was used as a data collection tool in the research. The data were analyzed by thematic analysis method. Research findings show that teachers working in multi-class schools have social prejudice, professional loneliness, workload, lack of cooperation, etc. shows that they are facing difficulties. As a result of the research; It has been determined that teachers working in multigrade classes benefit from environmental support, personal experiences and efforts in overcoming the difficulties they experience. As a solution to the problems experienced; results such as providing broad/qualified education to teachers on multi-class schools, especially in undergraduate education, increasing the support of senior management, and the importance of cooperation and communication have been achieved.