Education For All And Multigrade Teaching

This book, based on original research, explores the challenges and opportunities in multigrade teaching in Colombia, England, Ghana, Malawi, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Peru, Turks and Caicos Islands, and Vietnam. It raises awareness among policymakers and practitioners in education of the realities of multigrade classes. Moreover, the book explores the implications for teachers, teacher educators, curriculum developers, and educational planners.

In Africa, with the expansion of coverage of primary education in recent decades, many of the remaining out-of-school children are in hard to reach areas, with low population density and poor transport. Providing access to education is challenging in such contexts, as the population in any village is often too small to support a conventional primary school. One of the answers is the use of multigrade teaching, where one teacher works with students of two or more grades. This paper examines the practice of multigrade teaching in three African countries, Uganda, Senegal, and The Gambia. Although these three cases had very different approaches to multigrade, their experiences suggest that multigrade teaching is a promising and cost-effective option, but that successful implementation requires sustained support from policymakers, adequate training of teachers, and careful explanation of the approach to parents and the communities.

This book contains the results of research projects carried out in relation to multigrade teaching in Australia and South Africa. Research in multigrade contexts is not commonly reported and rarely in book form. The research results have implications for multigrade teachers, government education personnel, and university teacher educators. The book also contains chapters with practical advice for multigrade teachers, including examples of multigrade teaching used in an Australian seven-grade class (kindergarten to grade 6). Other chapters contain suggestions for practical strategies a multigrade teacher can use to reduce the workload involved in planning for multiple grades. Very little is published in the area of multigrade teaching, yet the number of multigrade schools worldwide is huge. Developed countries still have a significant proportion of multigrade schools (commonly one fifth to one third of all primary schools or classes). Despite decades of centralisation of schools and expansion of transport networks, the number of these schools remains high, mostly in rural areas. Developing countries established multigrade schools in rural areas in order to achieve the UN Millennium Development Goal of Universal Primary Education. Yet, specific training to teach a multigrade class remains virtually non-existent in initial teacher education programs worldwide. The value of this book is thus to report specific research carried out in multigrade contexts but also to provide practical help for multigrade teachers. This help is needed as the teachers strive to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goal of a quality education, through helping their students develop the skills and behaviours required for 21st-century learning.

This study is meant as an exploratory study to determine the extent to which multi-grade classrooms exist in school districts in Canada. Specifically, it obtains demographic information on multi-grade classrooms across Canada; describes the type (or classification) of grades and grade combinations in these schools; identifies the range of methodological procedures used and the instructional areas in which teachers need assistance; elicits the opinions of experienced teachers and principals on the psycho-social and cognitive development of students; and derives recommendations on curricula design, the organization of students for instructional purposes, the training of teachers for the multi-grade classroom, and needed research.

Learning and Teaching Around the World is a wide-ranging introduction to diverse experiences, practices and developments in global primary education. It explores different contexts for children’s learning, and methods and purposes of primary education, in settings across Africa, Asia, Europe, the Americas and Australasia, and addresses wider issues such as the rise of refugee learners and large multi-grade classes. With an explicit focus on comparative and international studies and improving the knowledge, understanding and practice of effective pedagogies for children’s learning, this book reflects on key issues such as: Standards for learner-centred education Patterns of inclusion and exclusion Defining ‘teacher professionalism’ The impact of global education agendas Language policy for schooling and assessment Learning and Teaching Around the World is an essential text for those wishing to develop a critical understanding of the experiences of primary teachers and children around the world. Aimed at both undergraduate and postgraduate education studies students, the scope of this book will support all students in developing knowledge of primary education and of the diverse needs of learners in an era of global movement of children and families.

This volume brings together eight case studies which describe a variety of initiatives to create more effective schools for children of poverty, especially in the Third World. The initiatives reviewed published and unpublished documents and both qualitative and statistical studies were examined. Countries include Brazil, Burundi, Colombia, Ghana, Nepal, Sri Lanka, Thailand and the United States. Each initiative was developed independently to address unique challenges and situations but taken as a group, the features of the approaches described in this volume can be viewed as a basis for considering the development of effective schools strategies in other contexts.

Classroom Innovations through Lesson Study is an APEC EDNET (Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Education Network) project that aims to improve the quality of education in the area of mathematics. This book includes challenges of lesson study implementation from members of the APEC economies. Lesson study is one of the best ways to improve the quality of teaching. It is a model approach for improvement of teacher education across the globe. This book focuses on mathematics education, teacher education, and curriculum implementation and reforms. Contents:The Role of Lesson Study in Overcoming Challenges in Mathematics Education:Mathematics Education for the Knowledge-Based Society (Alan J Bishop)Mathematical Thinking for Classroom Decision Making (Kaye Stacey)Setting Lesson Study within a Long-Term Framework of Learning (David Tall)Lesson Study: An Essential Process for Improving Mathematics Teaching and Learning (Akihiko Takahashi)Comparative Study of Mathematics Classrooms — What can be Learned from the TIMSS 1999 Video Study? (Frederick K S Leung)The Science of Lesson Study in the Problem Solving Approach (Masami Isoda)Preparing Ground for the Introduction of Lesson Study in Thailand (Maitree Inprasitha)Perspectives on Lesson Study and Professional Development:History of Lesson Study to Develop Good Practices in Japan (Shizumi Shimizu & Kimiho Chino)What have We Learned about Lesson Study Outside Japan? (Catherine Lewis)Enhancing Mathematics Teachers' Professional Development through Lesson Study ~ A Case Study in Singapore ~ (Ban-Har Yeap, Peggy Foo & Poh Suan Soh)Using Lesson Study to Develop an Approach to Problem Solving: Adding and Subtracting Fractions (Kazuyoshi Okubo & Hiroko Tsuji)Prospective Teacher Education in Mathematics through Lesson Study (Maitree Inprasitha)In-service Teacher Education in Mathematics through Lesson Study (Soledad A Ulep)Lesson Study for Illustrating Innovative Approaches in the Classroom:Transforming Education through Lesson Study: Thailand's Decade-Long Journey (Maitree Inprasitha)Mathematics Teachers Professional Development through Lesson Study in Indonesia (Marsigit)Lesson Study in Chile (Grecia Gálvez)Initiating Lesson Study to Promote Good Practices: A Malaysian Experience (Chap Sam Lim & Chin Mon Chiew)Using Lesson Study as a Means to Innovation for Teaching and Learning Mathematics in Vietnam: Research Lesson on the Property of the Three Medians in a Triangle (Tran Vui)Lesson Study in Singapore: A Case of Division with Remainder in a Third Grade Mathematics Classroom (Yanping Fang & Christine Kim Eng Lee)Enabling Teachers to Introduce Innovations in the Classroom through Lesson Study (Soledad A Ulep)What is a Good Lesson in Japan? An Analysis (Takeshi Miyakawa)Using Lesson Study to Connect Procedural Knowledge with Mathematical Thinking (Patsy Wang-Iverson & Marian Palumbo) Readership: Mathematics educators of teacher training colleges, mathematics teachers, prospective teachers (elementary and secondary school) and undergraduate students in mathematics. Key Features:Presents the world reform movement by top researchersIncludes the challenges of lesson study and videos of model lessons in the world (lesson videos will be available on the website: http://www.criced.tsukuba.ac.jp/math/apec)Includes the Japanese teaching methods called “problem-solving approaches”Keywords:Lesson Study;Mathematics;Mathematics Education;Elementary School;Secondary School;Open-Ended Approach;Problem Solving;Teacher Education;Pedagogical Content Knowledge;Action Research;Lesson Videos;Curriculum Standards