The implementation process of looping system at primary schools: Evidence from the city of Mashhad

Looping is an educational practice that a group of students stays with a teacher for two or more years. The purpose of this study was to examine the process of looping system implementation at primary schools in Mashhad. We used Grounded Theory and semi-structured in-depth interview. Data were collected through interview with teachers of looping system. Sampling was done using purposeful and Snowball sampling. Paradigmatic model demonstrates that while approval of looping system implementation in the Education Transformation Document is a facilitating factor in the implementation of such system at schools, the presence of motivated volunteer teachers is also a necessary condition for its implementation. Organizational and human factors can intervene with decision making on teacher's request to participate in the looping system. Consequences of looping system implementation by a qualified teacher are: In depth familiarity with students and their families which might help teacher to solve student's educational and non-educational problems, positive educational effects, enhancement of teacher's skills, positive psychological effects on students and teachers, reduction of the training and recognition time, improvement of interactions between involved people, enhancement of the positive modeling in the students, and the student's dependence on the teacher. The consequences of a looping system implementation by an unqualified teacher are: Labeling students and their families by teacher due to the teacher's obtained knowledge, educational and emotional traumas of students, and stabilization of the inappropriate behavioral-personality patterns taken from teacher. The research findings provide useful information about the positive and negative consequences, and the limitations of looping system implementation for the education authorities.