Tips for Multi-Age Classrooms:
An element of the Teaching Standards states that teachers “demonstrate knowledge and understanding of strategies for differentiating teaching to meet the specific learning needs of students across the full range of abilities” (Board of Studies, Teaching and Educational Standards, 2015, p. 9). This is what will be required when teaching in a multi-age classroom.
A conference in NSW that featured teaching in multi-age classroom provided a list of the following strategies:
A conference in NSW that featured teaching in multi-age classroom provided a list of the following strategies:
Split timetable or subject stagger:
Most multi-grade and composite class teachers plan for and teach the different grades separately. With a split timetable, the students in one grade work to a timetable different from the students in the other grade — the timetable is split and their subjects are staggered, so while one grade is working on mathematics, say, the other grade is working on language. The teacher works with one grade, then the other. Two completely different lessons are planned but both have to be managed at the same time. An advantage of the split timetable is that scarce resources can be utilised more efficiently, since they are only required by one part of the class at a time.
Common Timetable:
Under a common timetable arrangement, both grades in a class work on the same subject at the same time. The teacher still prepares different lessons for the different grades but has to spend less time getting resources ready. Classroom management is often easier when all students are working on the same subject, as equipment needs are likely to be similar, and there is potential for a student in the higher grade to help a student in the lower grade. When students are working on different subjects, they might have different equipment needs or might need to move to different parts of the classroom or school, with the potential for disruption.
Curriculum alignment with some whole-class teaching:
With a common timetable, the likelihood for at least some whole-class teaching is increased. When looking at the topics within each grade for, say, social studies or science, a teacher can often see that some topics are similar for each grade. In such a case, a teacher might give the whole class the same introduction to a lesson. In this way, the teacher revises material for some students while introducing it to others. The introduction serves the purpose of consolidation, revision and focusing for one grade and introduction and advance organiser for the other grade. After the introduction, each grade completes activities relevant to their syllabus. Some of the resources required for each grade’s lesson, such as information books, will be the same thus reducing the teacher’s preparation time. Similarly, the teacher might combine the two grades at the conclusion of the lesson. The conclusion might consist of some students from each grade reporting what they did and what they learnt, and a summary by the teacher containing information relevant to each grade.
Whole-class teaching for the whole period:
Sometimes both grades can be combined and taught as a single class for the whole lesson, which is called ‘subject grouping’. Subjects such as music, physical education, art and craft, drama, social studies and science can sometimes be taught successfully to the whole class at once. If necessary, the older-grade students have to complete all activities while the younger-grade students are only expected to complete a proportion of the activities.
Curriculum integration/theme-based teaching:
Related to curriculum alignment and whole-class teaching is the strategy of curriculum integration or theme-based teaching. This strategy involves planning activities in a range of different subject areas (language, mathematics, art and craft, and so on) to explore different aspects of the theme. Such an approach is useful in any class but very useful in a mixed-grade class, for four main reasons (Cornish, 2006b, p.28): (1) it allows learning to be more meaningful and connected, (2) it allows a crowded curriculum to be covered more easily, (3) topics can quite easily be spiralled so that all students learn about the same theme but different students learn at different levels, and (4) a range of different activities can be planned for each theme. Thus integrating the curriculum or teaching in themes helps a teacher to cater for diversity in the classroom.
Spiral curriculum:
A mixed-grade teacher can use curriculum alignment and themes/integrated curriculum because different syllabi for the same grade have some overlap of topics or desired learning outcomes. Such overlap is sometimes also a feature of syllabi for different grades, because topics are introduced in a lower grade, then re-introduced and extended in a higher grade. This increase in complexity each time a topic is studied is a feature of a spiral curriculum and makes it possible to teach two or more grades together in the way described above for whole-class teaching.
Curriculum rotation:
More creatively, a teacher can often change the order in which students learn required topics in order to teach them together as one class. If a teacher has the same class for two years, then he could teach everyone a lower-grade topic one year and then teach everyone a higher-grade topic the following year. By rotating the curriculum in this way, the teacher ensures that all students learn both topics but they learn them in a different order.
Within-grade grouping:
Ability groups can be used to reduce the diversity when this is thought to be important for learning. In a multigrade class where the teacher is following at least two different syllabi, the thought of also preparing different activities for groups within each grade can be daunting. Groups do not have to be based on ability to be successful and in fact the opposite is often the case. Multi-age teachers believe heterogeneous groups are beneficial for learning because they allow students to learn from their peers. Examples of activities suitable for heterogeneous group learning include making a book to read to the other grade (planning, writing and illustrating the story, then constructing the book); preparing and performing a drama skit; completing a design and construct activity and describing the process orally to the whole class; and completing a mathematics problem-solving exercise.
Cross-grade grouping:
Cross-grade groups can also be homogeneous (ability-based) groups or heterogeneous groups. If a teacher wants students who have a similar level of achievement to work together, then increasing the pool of students by going beyond one grade makes it more likely that students will be well matched. Multi-age teachers regularly form cross-grade groups and these groups change from subject to subject and activity to activity, depending on the teacher’s purpose in forming the group.
Peer tutoring:
Often an explicit purpose of forming groups, both within-grade and cross-grade, is to allow students to learn from each other. Much informal ‘learning from each other’ occurs in mixed grade classrooms and especially in group activities. A benefit is that individual students do not have to wait for scarce ‘teacher time’ when they need help to proceed. Many mixed-grade teachers, both multi-age and multi-grade, also set up formal peer tutoring situations, where an older student explains something to a younger student or helps another student with a specific activity.
Open-ended activities:
A teacher who decides to implement grouping soon learns that the strategy is not very successful with closed activities, i.e. activities where a specific result is expected. One student soon gets the answer and simply tells the rest of the group. This situation is not helpful for the students who are told the answer, and the group then has to wait until the teacher is ready to move on to the next activity. An open-ended activity, on the other hand, has many possible outcomes and/or many possible ways of reaching an outcome. The ideas of more than one student might be valid. Thus students need to discuss, argue, explore, decide, negotiate, justify and interact. They will be involved in the learning process. Even multi-grade teachers who are following a single-grade syllabus can design open-ended activities for within-grade groups. The groups learn to be responsible for their own learning to a greater extent than in a highly teacher directed classroom, which is an added benefit for both the teacher and the learners.”
(Source: Cornish, L, 2009, ‘Teaching the world’s children: theory and practice in mixed-grade classes’, in ISFIRE 2009 : International symposium for innovation in rural education : innovation for equity in rural education, University of New England, Armidale, 11-14 Feburary, viewed 9 October 2015, http://simerr.une.edu.au/ISFIRE/pages/ISFIRE_proceedings.pdf)
Remember:
It is the quality of teaching that an educator provides that impacts the students’ academic success, not being in a multi-age classroom (NSW Department of Education and Communities (DEC), 2015).
For more information:
NSW Department of Education and Training, 1997, Multi-Age Classes in New South Wales, Department of Education and Training, viewed 9 October, http://www.schools.nsw.edu.au/media/downloads/schoolsweb/studentsupport/programs/classsize/multiage/multi_age.pdf