Teaching and Learning Strategies in Multi-Grade Teaching
The multi-grade teacher have to deal with a class of students that often has a very wide range of ages and consequently of learning abilities, all together in the same room. Thus, most of the times it is not feasible for the teacher to encounter teaching of the class as a whole.
Teachers should not use the usual style of teaching that they have been trained for, i. e. teaching a single class of students in one subject at the time. The situation in the multi-grade classroom is completely different, not only teachers have to teach more than one grade of student in the same classroom, but also most of the times they have to teach different subject to each grade. In order to be effective multi-grade school teacher must utilize very good planning and develop teaching and learning strategies specially targeted for their classrooms. Above all they must be dedicated and willing to work hard to overcome then problems and the peculiarities of multi-grade education.
They have to be flexible and use various teaching methods (grouping, individualized instruction, independent study, team-teaching, group project work, peer tutoring etc.) according to their specific teaching needs at the time. The use of such strategies not only supports the educational work of the teachers and serves the national curriculum goals, but also represent flexible methods that encourage children to be independent and develop their personalities.
There are three main methods to use for teaching in multi-grade classroom, namely:
1. Whole Class Teaching
2. Group Teaching
3. Self directed Learning
These three basic teaching strategies can be used in combination among them or separately depending on the situation. Thus, it is equally important for the teacher not only to comprehend and know how to implement a strategy but also to know when to use these teaching methods or what strategy combination to choose.
