Teaching and Grouping Strategies in the Classroom Essay

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Whole group instruction

Whole group instruction is a term used to describe a teaching method that entails giving lessons to the whole class without considering the individual abilities of the students. In whole group instruction, the teacher assumes that every student has the chance and ability to grasp something as he or she delivers the lesson. Whole group instruction is best suited when a teacher is looking to deliver general content in subjects like social science and mathematics. After the lesson, a teacher using this content delivery method evaluates the understanding level of his or her students. If the majority of the students grasp the concept, the teacher moves on to the next lesson, but if the majority is still struggling with the ideas presented, he or she is obliged to revisit the topic discussed in the lesson.

This method is particularly efficient, where students have average understanding abilities for the content taught in class. Whole group instruction would be ineffective in a class where the majority of the students have limited ability in understanding. Whole group instruction is important because it allows students to practice their learning ability. The teaching process is simple and geared toward providing general knowledge to students. The instructor must develop a teaching pace that is fair to all students, and his or her evaluation methods must be standardized to give accurate projections of the understanding levels of the individual members of the group. Whole group instruction is an easier method of teaching because the goal of the instructor is not to have individual students grasping the same amount of ideas; rather, it involves the development of a group with varying general knowledge on a particular topic (Victoria, 2014).

Ability grouping

Ability grouping in class is a teaching technique that entails splitting students into small groups based on the ability of the individual students to learn. In every classroom, the learning ability of students cannot be the same; thus, teachers have to spend more time teaching some students, whereas others learn faster. Ability grouping is normally done when the students in a class are naturally split into two or three extremes with reference to their learning ability. Instructors normally develop three groups of students, one with the fast learners, another with the slow learners, and a third group of the average pace learners. This grouping method is efficient in producing high performing students in the fast learning group and the average pace learners, and it also ensures that the slow learners are provided with more intense lessons to help them learn faster.

Ability grouping may yield positive results if it is used to motivate different students to learn, but it can also yield negative results if the students feel discriminated. This is especially common among slow learners; hence, instructors must develop ways to motivate the different groups to view the grouping from a positive perspective. Ability grouping allows instructors to develop specific learning goals for the students based on their ability, and this is beneficial to the students who have limited ability to set personal learning goals. It is appropriate for technical subjects like science and mathematics. While critics still claim that this method of grouping is unethical, it can help in the unification of learning abilities in children in their early learning stages if enough effort is placed to ensure that all groups acquire enough knowledge in different subjects (Yee, 2013).

Flexible grouping

Flexible grouping in the classroom setting is one of the most effective methods of influencing team learning. In this grouping method, instructors are impervious of the age and learning ability differences in their students. Teachers identify the fast learning members of their class and the slow learners, and they develop groups where the number of fast learners and slow learners are equal. The main aim of this type of grouping is to ensure the fast learners help their slower counterparts to grasp ideas through group discussions. The instructors normally provide the groups with tasks that they should deliver as a group to influence group discussion and teamwork.

This method is appropriate in the handling of technical subjects like science, and it results in even learning among the group members. Teachers are also inclined toward reshuffling the groups for different subjects because students have different learning abilities in different subjects. Flexible grouping is particularly effective in areas where cultural diversity is deeply rooted in the schools to enable students to develop skills in developing interpersonal relationships with their counterparts from different cultures. Flexible grouping influences collaboration among students in different subjects, and the instructors have the chance to use the fast learners in different subjects to help the slower learners.

This grouping method is appropriate for language subjects and mathematics because it sharpens students’ skills in using language tools and mathematical formulas through their group mates. The teacher’s work in this grouping method is just to give working procedures and facilitate discussions, whereas the students execute the learning process among themselves (Valentino, 2003).

References

Valentino, C. (2003). Flexible Grouping. Edu Place. Web.

Victoria: Grouping for Instruction: Whole Class. (2014). Web.

Yee, V. (2013). . The New York Times. Web.

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