1.

OVERVIEW OF THE COURSE

Multi-grade teaching occurs in primary education when a teacher has two teach
two or more primary school student grades in the same class. More general term and
probably more accurate is that multi-grade teaching refers to the teaching of students of
different ages, grades and abilities in the same group. The multi-grade class structure is
known by various names in different countries; these include "composite" or
"combination" classes, "double" classes, "split" classes, "mixed-age" classes, "vertically
grouped" classes, "multiple classes", "family classes" or "multilevel classes". In multi-
grade schools a relatively small number of teachers try to be effective in their
educational work while dealing simultaneously with a number of pupils of different ages,
educational levels and needs. It follows that for children to learn effectively in multi-
grade environments; teachers need to be well trained, well resourced, and able to meet
highly demanding teaching tasks and to hold positive attitudes to multi-grade teaching.

Multi-grade classrooms ought to be taken seriously into account since such

schools are considered to play important role on providing access to education for all in
remote, isolated and underdeveloped rural areas. Such schools are more than a reality
in primary education in many regions of Europe, Latin America, Asia, Africa and the rest
of the world constituting a very common educational form in problematic rural areas,
sparsely inhabited regions and urban areas with adverse social conditions. In such
areas multi-grade schools not only aim to give enrolment and continuous attendance in
school environments, but also to provide knowledge and pedagogy of good standards
and in addition to play a wider role in social development.

In most of the cases the multi-grade school is the only viable school formation in
rural environment and the effort should be focused on improving the teaching and
learning conditions in this school formation. Multi-grade teaching is presented as a
powerful pedagogical tool for promoting independent and individualized learning. This
kinds of teaching and learning seem to have great advantages since the teaching
programme is adjusted to the specific needs of the individual student and thus
contributes to better learning outcomes. Multi-grade school provide the best test bench
for research and investigation of the usefulness of individualised teaching since
personalised education is a basis that gives solutions at the multi-grade setting and thus
is widely adopted.

Multi-grade schools have potential and play important role as educational units in
underserved rural areas. In addition multigrade schools could present good teaching
and learning practises useful and applicable in all kind of schools and classrooms. The
unfortunate reality is though that these schools form the most neglected part of the
education system. National educational authorities, ministries of education and
pedagogical institutions most of the times do not take into account or recognize or
consider important the differentiation on the teaching and learning conditions in the
multigrade environment. The formation of the school in multigrade classrooms is in most
cases considered as a "necessary evil" situation that is adopted just to fulfil the
obligation of the official state for providing education for all. As far as this is the main
goal of the state, to fulfil an obligation, then much less attention is paid to provide quality
education or to support the specialised needs of the teachers working multigrade
schools. Due to the geographical oddities, the socio-economic peculiarities and the lack
of adequate school infrastructure and personnel, these schools still remain at the
education's world cut off.

2. WHAT IS A MULTI-GRADE CLASSROOM

 A Multigrade class is made up of students in several (two or three) grade levels

with one teacher for an entire school year.
 Multigrade schools are those which have classes that combine students of
different ages and different abilities in one classroom.
 A Multigrade class involves students of different ages and developmental levels,
with different skills and learning abilities learning together with one teacher.
 Multigrade should remain as a class for a minimum of two (2) years but often for
three (3) years. They should have the same classroom teacher for all those
years.

Learner – the center of the educational process.

Teacher – a critical figure in the teaching –learning environment.

A multigrade class consists of two or more different grade levels inside a single-
grade classroom handled by one teacher for an entire school year. It is offered in
elementary schools located in distant and sparsely populated localities.

Figures from DepEd show that there are close to a million enrollees in multigrade
classes across the country.

Education Secretary Armin Luistro said most of the students attending multigrade
classes are learners who belong to isolated and financially challenged communities, are
indigenous peoples, and reside in far-flung mountains and islands where schools are far
apart from each other. “This is part of our thrust to democratize access to education and
make the learning experience inclusive to as many sectors. In effect, we are bringing
more students to school,” he added.

“If a class does not meet the required number of enrollees and therefore it is not
viable to conduct a class of limited number of pupils, the supposed enrollees are
merged into a single class and taught by one teacher,” Luistro explained.

The small number of students for each grade level, the shortage of teachers, the
distance from the community to the nearest school, and the inadequacy of funds and
classrooms are reasons that necessitate the organization of multigrade classes.
 In the Philippine public school system, classes with two grade levels inside a
single classroom and handled by the same teacher are called combination classes.
Classes with three grade levels conducted in one classroom and handled by a single
teacher are called a multigrade or multilevel class.

This means that children with different skills and abilities, developmental levels,
and needs are mixed in a class and work together under the guidance of one teacher.
“The truth is, long before multitasking became a buzzword, our teachers were actually
already living up to the word,” Luistro said.

Although the DepEd has always recognized the existence of multigrade classes,
it was only in 1990 that the department started to consider the formal organization and
continuing operation of multigrade classrooms all over the country in keeping with the
goal of Education For All.

Thus, the DepEd continues to invest in teachers’ training, curriculum

development, and preparation of learning materials appropriate for multigrade classes
to improve elementary education especially in underserved and remote areas.

3. THE NATURE OF MULTI-GRADE CLASSES

Grading, as a means of separating groups of students, was probably introduced in the

1800s. The grade, then, quickly became the unit of organization in the school, or any
educational institution. As a way of determining when a child was ready to move on, and
as one of the indicators of curricular achievement, grade levels were tied to age.

One class comprises students at one grade level. However one grade level, depending
on the size of the school, may have several classes, all of which belong to the same
grade level, although not all students may perform at the same level of competence.

Multi- Grade Classes

Assumptions are made about the ages when students enter and leave the
primary School system. However, not all students perform at the same level. Some
students do not perform well and repeat a grade, while others enter the school system
at an earlier age. Multi-grade classes are frequently found at schools in very rural or
remote communities, where populations are scattered. In those areas there are not
many teachers or students, so one grade level includes students of different ages.
These students are in one class, and are taught by one teacher, although there are
different grade levels. For example, one class may comprise students in grades 1 and
2, or 3 and 4. Such a class is termed a MULTI-GRADE CLASS.

In this single class, students may, or may not, be of different ages, but they learn
and work at different levels of competence. They are also called split grade classes, or
double grade classes. In some places, multi-grade teaching is regarded as “Alternative
Education”, or multi-grade classes are regarded as “Combination Classes”. Traditionally
multi-grade classes most aptly describe the split grade or double grade, classes. In
these classes teachers are required to teach more than one curriculum simultaneously.

As in all learning environments, students bring a great diversity to these classes.

The following list reflects some of the diversities found among students, and which need
to be appreciated by teachers:
1. Age
2. Ability
3. Developmental level
4. Background
5. Experience
6. Motivation
7. Interest

Where are they found?

Multi-grade classes tend to be associated with the “developing countries”, but they are
also found in other countries across the world. Some places in which they are found are
Peru, Sri Lanka, Norway, Vietnam, England, France, the Caribbean, India, the United
States, New Zealand, Columbia and Samoa. These classes exist for a wide variety of
reasons.

Why do they exist?

Frequently multi-grade teaching is required not by choice but through force of

circumstances. The multi-grade class may be a reflection of extreme socio-economic
constraints, or a small population (as in the case) in the surrounding community. Most
schools with multi-grade classes do not have the adequate resources they need to hire
additional teachers, or build additional classrooms. They lack essential support
personnel, such as janitors or administrative staff, and are unable to buy materials or
equipment, such as overhead projectors, computers or photocopying machines.

Multi-grade classes may also be the result of the geographical, socio-economic or

cultural conditions of the community or neighbourhood. Some of these factors are
mentioned later on in this unit.

In many countries, cultural practices require children to perform domestic and

agricultural chores, such as caring for the elderly or younger siblings. For example
multi-grade classes in India, allow girls the flexibility to continue their social traditions by
doing kadai and zardosi (needlework). In the United States of America, one multi-grade
school in a rural community was regarded as being a very exclusive school. In some
African schools, multi-grade classes allowed the 3 to 6 year olds to participate in a
school readiness package, while the older students received a primary-level education.

The term ‘multigrade teaching’ generally refers to a teaching situation where a

single teacher has to take responsibility for teaching pupils across more than one
curriculum grade within a timetabled period. Schools with multigrade classes are
referred to as multigrade schools.

In most of the world’s education systems, formal education is expected to be

imparted in a monograde teaching environment, where one teacher is responsible for a
single curriculum grade within a timetabled period. Although this is the general norm, in
many countries in the world there are schools in which all classes function as multigrade
classes. These schools are called “fully multigrade schools”. In some other schools only
some of the classes function as multigrade classes while others function as monograde
classes. These are called as “partially multigrade schools”.

4. THE CONCEPT OF MULTI-GRADE TEACHING

It is obvious that a combined class of students differs a lot from the conventional
type of a student class of a single grade. That means that the way that the students of
the multigrade class should be taught must be different as well. It is true that the
function of the teacher in the multigrade classroom is multidimensional or to be more
accurate it is much more complicated and demanding than the role of the teacher in the
monograde school respectively. This is the main subject of the MUSE project to assist
teacher professionals to be able to work effectively in the multigrade school
environment and be trained on teaching in the different ways referring to the multigrade
classroom. For children to learn effectively in multigrade environments, teachers need
to be well-trained, well-resourced and hold positive attitudes to multigrade teaching.
Multigrade teaching in many views represents a more demanding teaching situation and
special attention should be given to it. However, many teachers in multigrade
environments are either untrained or trained in monograde pedagogy; have few,
teaching and learning resources; and regard the multigrade classroom as a poor cousin
of the better-resourced monograde urban schools that are staffed by trained teachers.
In addition, at the majority of the cases, the multigrade teachers are very young without
significant experience, "chosen" by the state to teach at the specific rural areas. These
teachers are left alone without resources and support to handle the demanding
multigrade classes. The former has serious negative impact on teachers' psychology
and attitude towards the multigrade class, and affects in a negative way their teaching
performance.

The effort should be focused by the educational authorities to reverse the teachers'
negative view for multigrade teaching and the rural school and provide them with the
resources and support to be able to overcome any difficulties. Teachers should attend
special training programmes before introduce themselves at the multigrade classroom
and try to adjust to their multidimensional role as multigrade teachers. A training
programme like the MUSE project which represents an effort to address the specialised
needs of the multigrade school teachers ought first of all to record and analyse the
multiple role that these teachers possess in the multigrade class. Below you can find a
first attempt to present the basic functions and roles of the teachers in rural multigrade
schools. The categorisation in the different roles presented here are based on similar
former research activities, training attempts and documentation found in the literature so
are more or less well accepted by the wider educational community. These common
functions which multigrade teachers must carry out in their schools are as follows:

As Teacher
The main function of the multigrade teacher is to teach students by imparting knowledge
not just follow a curriculum. Teacher must be able to develop skills and inculcate
desirable values and attitudes among pupils. The teacher is expected to be versatile
and utilize different strategies to make learning meaningful and effective for all students
in his or her classroom, no matter what individual differences may exist among the
students. In the following section of this web training content you will be able to get
informed more specifically on teaching and learning strategies referring to the
multigrade setting.

As Facilitator
The teacher should be able to understand differences between pupils, be able to
motivate them to learn and guide them though their learning materials. The teacher
should be able to do this for all grade levels in the classroom, no matter what curriculum
subject is being studied. The teacher should not only be a provider of knowledge but
should also be a facilitator of learning both at a group level and on a one-to-one basis.

As a planner
Planning is a critical function for the Multigrade teacher. Appropriate planning by the
teacher will result in classes which are more productive for the learners and easier for
them to follow. Planning in the multigrade school classroom is much more important that
in a monograde one. The teaching hour must be spent productively for student groups
in grades of the class and thus accuracy on time spending is crucial.

5. THE CHALLENGES OF MULTI-GRADE CLASSES

To understand fully all the challenges of multi-grade classes, it is useful to examine their
potential advantages, and how the average trained, or untrained, teacher is prepared
first to recognize them, and then to cope with them.
Research on the effectiveness of multi-grade teaching has indicated that, if well done,
pupils can have the same and sometimes even better results than single-grade schools.

For example, one of the studies showed that in terms of academic achievement, the
data clearly supported the multi-grade classroom as a viable and equally effective
organizational alternative, to single-grade instruction. When it comes to student effect,
the case for multi-grade organization appears much stronger, with multi-grade students
out-performing single-grade students in over 75 per cent of the measures used.
(Source.. MilleC 1989).
These students can be among the high performers when the techniques of teaching
multi-grade classes are mastered.

Although there are many challenges, there are several advantages. Teachers within
that environment, have the opportunity to address various social issues, which assist
the developmental processes, not only of the students, but of their parents as well. Such
issues include:
1. Health promotion;
2. Agriculture;
3. Micro-finance.

Other advantages mentioned in the literature are:

 Low student/teacher ratio;
 An opportunity for highly individualized teaching;
 An opportunity to develop/strengthen leadership, and the cooperative and
management skills, of the students themselves.

Preparedness

Frequently the teacher may not be aware that 1 he/she is going to teach in a multi-
grade school, until he/she arrives at the location. The skills required to manage
students, and teach within a multi-grade environment, are usually not taught at
training colleges. Teachers also lack the support needed to be creative and
innovative in using existing resources.

Multi-Skilled

In the multi-grade class environment, each teacher is expected to know, and be able
to teach effectively, different subject areas at different grade levels. For example one
teacher who has the responsibility for grades 1, 2 and 3 would need to know:
 Social Studies at Grade levels 1, 2 and 3;
 Mathematics at Grade levels 1, 2 and 3;
 Language Arts/English at Grade levels 1, 2 and 3.

The teacher is expected to have an array of skills and talents, in addition to those
required in the specific subject areas within the normal teaching curriculum. Some of
these skills and talents are:
 Research;
 Supervision;
 Planning;
 Organization;
 Facilitation;
 Management;
 Motivation;
 Evaluation.
Functions and Roles of Multi-grade Teachers
As a teacher in a multi-grade class, you may have a number of functions and roles,
some of which are listed below: As Field/Action Researcher If parents think that
what the school teaches is irrelevant to their lives, there will be no motivation for
sending students to schools. There would be greater advantages in involving the
students in the economic activity of their parents. To meet adequately the needs of
the students and the community, the teacher has to know the needs of the
community. This means that the teacher is required to have some social research
skills. A teacher in a multi-grade class needs to under- take studies on methods and
techniques, which improve participation and learning achievement.

EXAMPLE In some countries, particularly in Jamaica, students’ attendance tends to fall

significantly on Fridays in rural communities. Teachers should determine what the parents
do, why students are absent on Fridays, and the ways in which students assist their
parents.

The Challenges
Physical Environment
 Teachers often resent being placed in distant schools, because: - they fear it
will affect their career by being far away from centres of decision making;
-they are far away from their family, friends and colleagues,.
- the remuneration is insufficient to offset the cost of living away from the
main centres;
 Long distances from roads, transportation, shops, clinics, post offices, police
stations, etc.
 Children are often less healthy than their counterparts in the big schools. l
Lack of communication with educational support systems and authorities.

Learning Environment
 Lack of supervision;
 Lack of learning materials;
 Lack of trained personnel;
 Lack of facilities, such as:
- telephone, photocopier, typewriter, paper, pencils, chalk, etc.;
- textbooks, school library;
- resource materials and outside resources such as city libraries, health
centre, agricultural information centres;
- buildings, desks and storage spaces.
Social Environment
 Loneliness of the teacher, which can become critical in an unsympathetic
setting, or if the teacher comes from a different com- munity/background.
 Negative attitude towards multi-grade teaching by the authorities, as well as
the general public,
 Lack of a government policy on multi-grade classes leading to:
- lack of appropriate pre- and in-service teacher education;
- inappropriate and irrelevant curriculum and materials;
- lack of appropriate textbooks (the existing ones only cater for single-grade
classes); and no in-service assistance for specific pedagogical problems,
such as teaching methodologies and classroom organization.
 Small schools and multi-grade classes are often in socio-economically
disadvantaged areas, leading to:
- deprived home environment;
- low educational attainment of parents;
- health and nutrition problems;
- low aspirations of parents and the community;
- interrupted school attendance because pupils have to look after animals, or
work in the fields, or look after the home; and
- lack of pre-schools.
 Inadequate out-of-school experiences for the pupils, e.g. sport, traditional
dancing and music, and visits to places of interest, which can be used as
starting points for learning.

The main issue in Multigrade classrooms is reconciling the department to cover

the curriculum with a particular age group within the time available. The crux of the
matter is that there is a curriculum for each age group that must be covered. Therefore,
teachers in multi-grade settings face many challenges such as inadequate training,
social and cultural isolation, instructional, lack of time, lack of community understanding,
and rural nature of most of the multi-grade settings.
1. An average primary school teacher is ill equipped to handle a multigrade
classroom situation.
2. The nature of the curriculum and textbooks, which are prepared almost entirely in
a monograde context create further problems.
3. Inadequately trained teachers.
4. Scarcity of varied levels and types of materials.
5. Lack of flexible and special types of curriculum organization.
6. Inadequate school facilities.
7. Lack of incentives for teachers in multiple classes.
8. There is no training package for multigrade teachers. The aspects could be;
  -       Time management
-       Improving teaching skills
-       Preparation and organisation of the teaching learning materials.
-       Organisation of art and cultural activities.
9. Timetables are not flexible enough.
Disadvantages of Multi-Grade Classroom
 Multi-Grade system is difficult to implement in large schools with heavy
population
 Textbooks in use for teaching only meet the need of mono-grade teaching
 schools practising multi-grade teaching often suffer from inadequate material
resources
 In remote areas, teachers’ passivity, irregularity, ill planning, non-accountability
and engagement in non-academic pursuits create and maintain a low school
profile
 Multigrade teachers must be trained to give different lessons at the same time to
pupils at different grade levels.
 Children sit in grade-groups facing their own blackboard (BB)
 If there are two grade groups in the class the BB are placed either end of the
classroom with children facing opposite directions.
 During the lessons the teacher moves frequently between the different groups.
 Give reading instructions to one grade; give dictation to the other grade.
 One grade is copying handwriting math exercises from the BB, the other grade
will be instructed on a new math item.
 The extra work involved in multigrade teaching must be recognized by giving
teachers 50% additional salary for two grades and 75% for three or more grades.
 Teachers in multigrade classrooms must receive a lot of support and must meet
regularly with teachers from other multigrade schools.
Summary
This research is available on-line from the website, http://www.unesco.org/education/
educprog/primaryyedu/CADindex.html

https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000125919

Multi-grade classes refer to one class of students, in which there are two or more
groups, each performing at different competence, or grade levels. Multi-grade classes
are found worldwide for various reasons.

 The prime reasons for multi-grade classes may be placed into four major
categories:
1. Low (or reduced) community population, possibly due to migration, or an
increased death rate;
2. Poor economic conditions, resulting in inadequate teaching resources; + The
persistence of cultural practices which would impede the attendance of
students at school;
3. Geographical location of the school, which may be in a remote, inaccessible
village;
4. Some students may be mentally challenged, and there are no provisions for
special education nearby.

 Communities benefit from multi-grade classes as they probably:

Increase the levels of functional literacy and numeracy in the community; Create
opportunities for post-primary choices;
Prepare students for secondary level education.
 Small schools play a significant role in providing education.
 They enable access to education to be available to almost every- one.
 They are usually located in remote areas, and are faced with a number of
constraints not usually faced by normal schools.
 These classes promote the greater participation of parents and the community in
the life of the school, and the lives of the students.
 Small schools in some developed countries have been used to provide exclusive
education for physically challenged or exceptional students.
Reflection
Every child has a right to an education. Multi-grade classes and single teacher schools
have made it possible for many children in remote rural areas and communities to
exercise this right. The teachers rarely receive training in how to deal with them, and are
ill-prepared for managing large numbers of pupils, of different ages and levels of
learning, that they confront in the classes.

If progress is to be made towards Education for All, the challenges of multi-grade

classes and single teacher schools must be urgently met. Children in small communities
must have access to good quality education. This is very relevant to children in widely
dispersed communities, girls, who for reasons of security, must attend school near their
residences, ethnic groups that prefer their children to be educated in their location as
well as children living in mountainous and hard to reach areas.

The reasons for establishing multi-grade classes are elaborated, and their advantages
and disadvantages described. Teachers are shown how they can acquire skills,
strategies and the confidence they need to work in such schools, and build the
necessary partnerships, not only with the local community (its leaders as well as the
parents), but also with other teachers working in similar schools. They are also
encouraged to exercise initiative and imagination in adapting their teaching to the more
challenging situation in which they are required to work. Advice is also given on how to
obtain more support from the government and various ministries.

Suggestions are provided in the Handbook on how to modify and adapt the national
curriculum, in order to meet local priorities and needs, arrange the classroom to
accommodate different learning levels, organize relevant learning experiences, identify
and obtain any teaching aids available in the local environment, keep careful records
and monitor and evaluate students’ progress.