Welcome
Improving education in Jamaica is a mission we all share. Among the most important and persistent, but perhaps least discussed concerns in the sector is the existence of mutigrade classrooms in Jamaica. This practice, which has diminished over time, but nonetheless continues in a significant number of our schools, is in need of revision, but in the meantime, teachers need to be specially equipped to deal with the challenges these classrooms present.Over the next three days we will examine some of these challenges, focusing our thoughts on how to overcome them and provide students in these classes with a quality education. Although practiced successfully in some other countries, Jamaica has not quite found the formula for making these classrooms high performing, or for that matter, even average. Teacher training institutions do not officially recognise multigrade classes as a peculiar classroom type and so do not specificially perpare teachers to teach in such an environment. The result? Teachers improvise and adapt, making it up as they go along and hope for the best.It is my pleasure to moderate this potentially useful forum and hope you will join me as we bring our collective experience, intellect and plain common sense to assisting our community members to meet the challenges of our multigrade classrooms. Our children can only benefit.Wesley Barrett
Visit our Help Center to find answers to frequently asked questions.
Comments (11)
It is indeed true; A chain is
It is indeed true; A chain is as strong as its weakest link. If we are going to address the ills in our society in any substantial way, we have to place great emphasis on the most vulnerable. Hence, those individuals and schools that are lagging in technology should be given the necessary support to be on par with the others. We will make the biggest mistake if we treat the advancement of technology in our school system with little or no priority. The world will surpass us, and we will be left clutching at straws.However, until we reach that level, assessment of our children is key; grouping is also another important factor. Not all students possess the mental capacity to develop into doctors, lawyers, professors and other high end profession, but they can be placed in other fields and industries, providing they were properly trained for that career during secondary and post - secondary schooling.We must avoid treating all students as if they all can be highly trained professionals; instead we must group them and train them according to their practical ambitions and ability.Some students should only be allowed to focus on 4 or 5 subjects at the secondary level and complement their lessons with activities from uniformed groups such as the JDF Cadet and Scout Corp operating in the schools, especially in those schools that have a large percentage of anti-social behaving students.Special practical literacy and numeracy hands-on activities should be an active part of the curriculum, to guarantee mastery for all, since these two areas are of greatest concern when assessing students.
Pages