Importance of Multigrade Schools

The traditional school model is familiar to all: an educational center in which students are classified by age and with different teachers for each group. This system is the most widespread and is commonly called a graduated school. However, in some territories the scarce population of school age and the dispersion of the population mean that the school must be organized in another way. It is in this context where the phenomenon of multi-grade schools, also called multi-age or single teachers, occurs.

The pedagogical approach of these schools is simple: students of different ages and educational levels sharing the same classroom with a single teacher.

An educational alternative that could be a good formula

Multigrade schools are a reality in many countries. Normally this pedagogical approach is valued negatively, since it is associated with disadvantaged communities and without resources. In fact, it is usually said that it is a school for the poor and for the poor. Despite this perception, some education experts consider this model to have a number of advantages.

In the first place, it favors cooperation between students, since there is the figure of the student tutor who helps his younger classmates.

Likewise, individual self-learning is encouraged. At the same time, the system brings the educational world closer to the social environment.

If multigrade schools incorporate some methodological changes, they could become a successful educational proposal.

To correct the deficiencies, two substantial changes should be introduced:

1) enhance the training of the teacher in relation to the teaching of heterogeneous groups and

2) provide multi-age schools with adequate infrastructures and the necessary technical resources (new technologies offer multiple technical possibilities that would make it possible to alleviate the traditional deficiencies of these schools).

The model is giving good results in some countries

The innovations listed above have already been successfully implemented in some countries. For this reason, some specialists consider that this option has a future and it is not necessary that they be linked to poverty and underdevelopment. In short, what has historically been considered a problem could become a solution.

Those establishments that are adequately managed and with sufficient pedagogical means would allow some isolated and futureless territories to have a second chance. It is not just a proposal but it is already a reality in some countries, such as Ecuador, Costa Rica, Mexico or Cuba.

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