The multigrade classrooms
MANY teachers are worried when asked to teach a multigrade class. They feel they are not adequately prepared to teach students with varying ages and abilities. This is because most teachers have been trained to work in single- grade classrooms and understand only monograde pedagogy. Their knowledge of teaching method is based on whole- class instruction and small- group instruction ( with groups often formed on the basis of ability or achievement level).
When placed in a multigrade setting, teachers discovered that the time requirements and skills needed to be effective were simply not part of their prior training and experience. Thus the norm can be a handicap for anyone (whether out of necessity or by theoretical design) who must work with multigrade classrooms or schools.
Multi- grade schools is defined as schools where one teacher teaches two or more grades simultaneously. Multi-grade schools are very common in isolated, low- income rural areas. Multigrade instruction is not an experiment or a new educational trend, but a necessity imposed, in part, by economic and geographic conditions. Often, combining two grades together is implemented for financial or budgetary reasons, or due to declining enrolment or uneven numbers of students in particular grades.
Managing and handling multigrade classes is a challenging task. A multigrade teacher works in the most difficult circumstances. Walking kilometers in going to and from the school. Climbing mountains, crossing rivers, battered by weather disturbances, living alone in the most far-flung areas. It takes a lot of creativity and initiative for a willing and remarkable teacher to do this. With scant resource as books, visual aids, and materials, a teachers in a multigrade classroom has to have a wide range of patience to do all the work in two or three grades.
The function of the teacher in multigrade classrooms is multidimensional or to be more accurate it is much more complicated and demanding than the role of the teachers in the monograde class. Within the four walls of the classroom they are besieged by the problems on how to cope with the lesson preparation for two or three grade levels; how to manage time so that they could attain mastery learning within an hour period; how to discipline or establish order in a classroom of children with varied abilities and orientations, interest, and age.
Since the teacher in a multigrade classroom has to impart knowledge to a diverse group of students, he/she has to develop a wide variety of teaching learning strategies. Trying to do this is very difficult to plan and manage. It would be impossible to cover all the work for each grade. Hence, the teacher has to find ways of encouraging self-learning and of older children helping younger ones. The tasks multigrade teachers have to cope with are enormous and overwhelming. In fact every day is a crisis and a cross for multigrade teachers to bear.
The government has declared that "every child matters.” The unfortunate reality however is that multigrade schools form the most neglected part of the education system. We have, as a nation, to do more and to do better in our duty of care to our children. Adequately meeting the needs of teachers and children in multi-grade classrooms will be essential for the achievement of quality education for all.