1. Multi-Grade Pedagogy: Theory, Practice, and Implications for Research
Sheldon Shaeffer
Regional Research Workshop: Promoting Quality Learning through Enhanced Multigrade Teaching in Asia-Pacific
Bangkok, April 21-23, 2014

3. Provocations In your country, who teaches in Grade 1?
Why do Grade 1 classes often have the least experienced and/or trained teachers and the highest pupil-teacher ratios? (And why is Grade 5/6 the opposite?)
5-10% of children in every Asian country have a disability. How many are now in school? How many could be in school?
Why do many children never enroll or fail in school?

4. Provocations
Why is blame for school failure placed more often on children and their families rather than on the education system and the school?
Why do we use the word “drop-out” when most “drop-outs” are usually “push-outs” from the school?
Why do most MOEs talk about progress in national NERs rather than worry about sub-national disparities and net NON-enrolment and NON-completion rates?
How can multi-grade teaching help resolve these issues?

5. What is Multigrade Teaching?
Multigrade teaching (MGT) occurs when a single teacher is responsible for a class formed of children from two or more grades.
MGT is appropriate and even essential for many contexts in the world, particularly in remote, isolated schools with a limited number of students and teachers.
It can help many countries reach:
Education for All targets
Millennium Development Goals
national targets in regard to inclusive education for rural, remote children

6. Core Principles of MGT (1)
teaching-learning methodologies -- active, child- centred, participatory, cooperative, and self-paced with peer teaching across grade levels
curricula and materials -- structured, theme-oriented
environment -- a whole-child focused classroom
class and classroom management -- informal and flexible in nature
strongly relevant -- to the local context and culture
local community -- actively involved
the teacher -- facilitator, motivator, and community resource person

7. Core Principles of MGT (2)
a “whole” child approach -- beyond school attendance and achievement to concern for a student’s health and nutrition status, family history, and home environment
a “whole” school approach -- beyond classroom teaching to better small-school management and stronger community participation

8. Why Do MGT?
It helps children, especially the most remote and isolated, realise their right to education of good quality.
It’s good pedagogy – it focuses on child-centred, interactive, and collaborative learning, across ages and grades, and promotes cohesiveness and cooperation and strengthens interpersonal and leadership skills.
It’s adaptable to a range of cultural and school contexts.
It saves money by being cost-efficient in creating realistic student-teacher ratios.
It helps re-balance teacher supply between teacher- surplus and teacher-deficit schools.
It reinforces linkages among pre-school, primary school, and the community.

9. The Need for MGT
In Thailand, over 14,000 primary schools have fewer than 100 students – the solution is often to merge or close some of them, rather than adopt MGT.
In Indonesia, over 24,000 schools (17% of the total) have fewer than 90 pupils and 5,000 have fewer than thus, potential MGT sites -- but it is perhaps being implemented well in only 150 schools.
In Myanmar, perhaps 70% of all classrooms are multi-grade because of a serious shortage of teachers.
Frequent teacher absenteeism creates “unplanned” multi-grade contexts even in schools with enough teachers.
But in most countries, there are no coherent national policies or recommended practices in regard to MGT – and no unit in the Ministry of Education responsible for it.

10. MGT Challenges (1)
MGT schools are usually small schools (< 100 students):
with students from poor and often ethnic minority families
and usually located in remote areas – but more and more in urban areas as well.
Per student allocations are small (if they exist) and not enough to cover additional expenses of small schools -- routine costs, books and other materials, and transport.
Teachers are often not suited for small schools:
unwillingly assigned to them
not from the local community and not speaking the local language or understanding the local culture
with few incentives to stay
professionally isolated with little support – and so leave as soon as they can.

11. MGT Challenges (2)
Teachers receive little or no training in MGT, pre- service or in-service.
MGT methods are offered inconsistently across training institutions – rarely as a separate subject, sometimes subsumed under subjects such as “educational innovations”.
There is little supervised teaching practice in MGT.
There is no follow-up available from local education offices and supervisors – despite the extra skills teachers need in mapping pupil competencies, developing the syllabus and lesson plans, and managing the MGT classroom.

12. MGT Challenges (3)
The national MOE curriculum has not been adapted to MGT contexts.
Teachers, parents, and the wider education system have little faith in MGT, seeing it as “second class” education.
But in many developed countries and international school systems, MGT is the “first choice” of classroom organisation and teaching-learning approaches.
It is NOT “second class”.

13. Essential Skills for MGT (1)
understand the classroom context and prepare it for MGT
manage groups and activities flexibly and efficiently
develop low-cost MGT learning materials and active teaching-learning strategies
take advantage of diversity within and between groups
be sensitive to each student’s uniqueness
adapt the curriculum and lesson plans to MGT

14. Essential Skills for MGT (2)
engage all students and keep them focused on learning
emphasise flexible, non-formal learner assessment rather than formal evaluation
understand the students’ culture
teach in the students’ mother tongue
strengthen school-community collaboration
understand the management and financing challenges of small schools

15. Implementing MGT (1) Ministry/policy level:
establish a MOE task force from all relevant units concerned with all aspects of MGT --- both academic and administrative
identify an MOE focal unit to serve as the MGT coordinator
socialise all MOE personnel, from the Minister down to all school-community stakeholders, to understand the need for and support the implementation of MGT
develop an MGT policy adaptable to individual school, community, and cultural contexts
develop detailed implementation guidelines for the further expansion and enrichment of MGT
review the per student policy of budget allocations and add additional resources for small schools to cover their costs

16. Implementing MGT (2) Teachers and teaching:
revise curricula, texts, and teaching materials towards a multi-grade, local-content curriculum, including lesson plans
review the incentives for MGT teachers (e.g., additional pay, reduction in required teaching hours) provided for MGT teachers
make MGT mandatory in pre-service education
teach MGT techniques during in-service training
ensure continuing professional development and mentoring related to MGT are provided by district offices, supervisors, and principals

17. Implementing MGT (3) District, school and community level:
identify, analyse, and disseminate good practices in MGT implementation; e.g., kinds of MGT and management, innovative MGT techniques, and support by headteachers, supervisors, school clusters, etc.
insert MGT-related issues in assessment -- both internal and external
explore district- and school-level financial implications of MGT for school budgets and teacher remuneration
promote community support and participation
ensuring a whole school approach to small school
planning and management

18. Implications for Research (1)
get accurate data on the extent of multi-grade teaching -- how many small schools are there, and how many are using/should be using MGT?
write detailed descriptions of MGT in practice -- how is it used in classrooms, managed in schools, and supported through training and supervision?
determine the (extra) costs of running small schools and implementing MGT
explore the current and potential role of mother tongue in multi-grade teaching

19. Implications for Research (2)
explore the nature and impact of incentives for MGT teachers/teachers in small schools
analyse the place of MGT in pre- and in-service teacher education
describe whether/how the curriculum has been adapted for MGT
describe the role of the community in MGT implementation
identify indicators for internal and external assessment