Perspectives On Multigrade Teaching

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 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.

Presenting a wide range of new research from World Education Research Association (WERA)-affiliated scholars pertaining to democracy and education, this volume including topics such as school readiness in Mongolia, high-stakes teacher evaluation policy in Japan, and family and community involvement in global educational advocacy. This collection arrives at a time of extreme global challenges, leaving researchers, teachers, students, families and policymakers without a baseline of how to act, react and be proactive to stem the chronic flow of disruption to global education systems. These challenges require researchers worldwide to consider how evidence can support individuals and systems to buffer against extreme global health distress and conflict whilst simultaneously supporting the continued functioning of education systems and processes. Such processes must allow students, teachers, leaders, administrators and members of the educational communities to retain positive self-esteem and maintain supportive relationships and systems that provide the appropriate conditions for such processes. Global Perspectives on Education Research pulls together contributions from different contexts and cultures to distil vistas and research results that can enlighten a worldwide community of researchers, education professionals and practitioners, as well as policymakers and local, national or supra-national decision-makers. This text is also the ideal companion for educators and leaders alike as they navigate the uncertainty within global health and social justice.

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.

Social justice is a philosophy that has gathered momentum over the past few years to bring to light the inequities that exist within our society. In the field of education, social justice illuminates the challenges that marginalized students and minority students face compared to other students. Social Justice and Culturally-Affirming Education in K-12 Settings seeks to bring together social scientists, researchers, and other practitioners to delve into social justice issues in K-12 settings and considers the various challenges and future directions that are associated with this field. Covering key topics such as inclusive education, educational reform, and school policies, this reference work is ideal for administrators, policymakers, researchers, academicians, practitioners, scholars, instructors, and students.

Focusing on values in education, these writings present current debates on fundamental issues. These include: who decides the values, what are the key accompanying issues, and what are their religious, moral and political dimensions and implications.