11.1. The class teacher in the educational system of the school

The class teacher is the direct and main organizer of educational work in the school, an official appointed by its director to carry out educational work in the classroom.

The institute of classroom management was formed a long time ago, practically together with the emergence of educational institutions. In Russia, until 1917, these teachers were called class teachers and class ladies. They were obliged to delve into all the life events of the student groups entrusted to them, to follow the relationships in them, to form friendly relations between the children. The teacher was supposed to serve as an example in everything, even his appearance was a role model.

In the Soviet school, the position of the class teacher was introduced in 1934. The class teacher appointed one of the teachers, who was given special responsibility for the educational work in this class. The responsibilities of the class teacher were considered as additional to the main teaching work.

Currently, the institution of classroom management has changed significantly, since there are several types of classroom management: a) a subject teacher who simultaneously performs the functions of a class teacher; b) an exempted class teacher who performs only educational functions; c) a cool curator (trustee) who is entrusted with the supervision of any work; d) a tutor (protector, patron, guardian) exercising control in an environment where students take on a number of organizational functions of a teacher.

The main functions of the class teacher are:

• educational (social protection of the child);

• organizational (work on all pedagogical aspects of class and school activities, the formation of personality and team, the study of students);

• coordinating (establishing positive interaction between all participants in the educational process - teachers, students, parents, the public);

• management (control over the dynamics of the development of the individual and the team based on the management of students' personal affairs and other types of documentation).

The priority among them is the function of social protection of the child, which is understood as a purposeful, consciously regulated system of practical social, political, legal, psychological, educational, economic and medical and environmental measures that provide normal conditions and resources for the physical, mental and spiritual development of children , to prevent infringement of their rights and human dignity. The implementation of this function involves the provision of conditions for the adequate development of the child. The work of the class teacher in this direction is the activity of not only the direct performer, but also the coordinator who helps social services and social services for children and their parents. In fulfilling this function, he must, solving acute, momentary problems, be ready to anticipate events and, based on an accurate forecast, protect the child from possible problems and difficulties.

The object of social protection and social guarantees are all children, regardless of their origin, the well-being of parents and the conditions of life. However, it is especially important to perform this function in relation to children who find themselves in a particularly difficult situation: children from large families, children with disabilities, orphans, refugees, etc., who are most in need of emergency social protection.

The main purpose of the organizational function is to support a positive children's initiative related to the improvement of the life of the region, the microenvironment, the school and the schoolchildren themselves. In other words, the class teacher does not so much organize the students as he assists them in the self-organization of various activities: cognitive, work, aesthetic, as well as free communication, which is part of the leisure. At this level, the function of rallying the team is important, acting not as an end in itself, but as a way of achieving the goals set for the class. One of the tasks of the class teacher in this case is the development of student self-government.

The success of the educational activities of the class teacher largely depends on the deep penetration into the inner world of children, the understanding of their experiences and motives of behavior. To this end, he studies schoolchildren not only in class, but also outside school hours, when visiting students' families, during excursions and hikes.

The coordinating function of the class teacher is manifested primarily in the fact that he carries out educational activities in close cooperation with other members of the teaching staff and, above all, with those teachers who work with students of this class (class micro-collectivities). On the one hand, he uses the information that he receives about children from teachers, and on the other, he enriches teachers' ideas about the child, offering them their information that will help adjust the teacher’s actions, his methods of working with the student.

The class teacher is the link between teachers and parents of the child. He informs teachers about the condition of the pupil, the peculiarities of the parents, organizes their meetings with subject teachers. The class teacher should pay particular attention to new teachers, who are important to acquaint with the peculiarities of the class team and individual students, as well as with the requirements of the previous teacher and class teachers.

One of the forms of interaction between the class teacher and subject teachers, ensuring the unity of action and contributing to the development of common approaches to education, is a pedagogical council, which forms a comprehensive view of the child.

As part of the management function, the class teacher carries out diagnostics, goal setting, planning, monitoring and correction of educational activities. The implementation of the diagnostic function involves the identification of the initial level of education of students and the constant tracking of changes. It is aimed at researching and analyzing the child’s individuality, searching for the causes of the ineffectiveness of the results and characterizing the holistic pedagogical process.

The function of goal-setting can be viewed as a joint development of educational goals with students. The share of participation of the class teacher in this process depends on the age of students and the level of formation of the classroom team. The logic of goal-setting is reflected in the process of classroom activity planning.

The main purpose of the function of control and correction is to ensure the continuous development of the educational system of the class. The implementation of the control function involves the identification of both positive results and the causes of deficiencies and problems arising in the process of education. Based on the analysis of the results of the control, the work of the class teacher is corrected either with the class as a whole, or with a specific group of students or an individual student. The control of the class teacher is not so much control by the school administration as self-control for the purpose of correction. Correction is always a joint activity of the class teacher and the collective of the class as a whole, a group or individual students.

The considered levels of functions determine the content of the activity of the class teacher. In the educational system of the school, the class teacher acts as an administrative person with the appropriate rights and duties, namely:

- receive information about the mental and physical health of each child;

- monitor the progress of each student;

- monitor the attendance of children’s studies;

- to coordinate and direct in a single direction the work of teachers of this class (as well as a psychologist, social teacher);

- organize educational work with students in the class: conduct “small pedsovety”, pedagogical consultations, thematic events, etc .;

- submit to the administration, the school board proposals for consideration agreed with the class team;

- invite parents (or persons replacing them) to school to address issues related to the upbringing and training of students, in consultation with the administration, apply to the commission on juvenile affairs, psychological-medical-pedagogical commission, to the commission and family and school assistance tips at the enterprises;

- receive help from the teaching staff of the school;

- determine the individual mode of work with children based on the specific situation;

- refuse orders that are beyond the scope of his work;

- conduct experimental work on the problems of didactic and educational activities;

- to organize an educational process that is optimal for the development of the positive potential of the individual students in the framework of the school-wide collective activity;

- assist the student in solving acute problems (preferably personally, you can involve a psychologist);

- establish contact with parents and assist them in raising children (personally, through a psychologist, social teacher).

For a pedagogically competent, successful and efficient performance of their duties, a class teacher needs to be well aware of the psychological and pedagogical foundations of working with children, be informed about the latest trends, methods and forms of educational activities, and possess modern upbringing technologies.