The effects of Multi-grade Teaching on Learner Performance

Multi-grade classes were created in Namibia to give
children living in isolated areas access to a school
located in or near a village and to obtain higher
returns from the school system. Although authors
generally agree that greater demands are placed on
teachers in multi-grade classes, as opposed to mono-
grade teaching, there was no agreement about whether
this affected the quality of teaching.
Most researchers and practitioners agree that
successful strategies for multi-grade teaching
depended on adequate provisioning of learning
materials to support individual and group-based
learning. Curriculum, learning materials, teacher
education and assessment are necessary components of
an integrated strategy for teaching and learning in
multi-grade settings. Implementation of a single
strategy is unlikely to lead to significant
improvements in the effectiveness of teaching and
learning in multi-grade settings. Surrounding these
strategies is the need for national policies (for
curriculum, materials, teacher education and
assessment) that recognise, legitimatise and support
learners and teachers in multi-grade settings.

Autorentext

Florida Beukes is a lecturer at the University of Namibia. She has been involved in several training programmes, especially for teacher training.

Klappentext

Multi-grade classes were created in Namibia to give children living in isolated areas access to a school located in or near a village and to obtain higher returns from the school system. Although authors generally agree that greater demands are placed on teachers in multi-grade classes, as opposed to mono- grade teaching, there was no agreement about whether this affected the quality of teaching. Most researchers and practitioners agree that successful strategies for multi-grade teaching depended on adequate provisioning of learning materials to support individual and group-based learning. Curriculum, learning materials, teacher education and assessment are necessary components of an integrated strategy for teaching and learning in multi-grade settings. Implementation of a single strategy is unlikely to lead to significant improvements in the effectiveness of teaching and learning in multi-grade settings. Surrounding these strategies is the need for national policies (for curriculum, materials, teacher education and assessment) that recognise, legitimatise and support learners and teachers in multi-grade settings.