Whole Class Teaching

Training Module

 Read
 Write
 Activity
Whole Class Teaching


Introduction
This paper aims at presenting you the advantages and disadvantages of
whole class teaching as a teaching method in multigrade classrooms. In
general there are three main types of teaching usually found in multigrade
teaching, namely: The “whole class teaching”, “grouping” and “individualised
learning”. Every of these methods have its place in multigrade classroom and
reveal its usefulness under specific teaching and learning conditions. This
paper is going to present the characteristics of the “whole class teaching” as a
method for teaching in multigrade classrooms. Whole class teaching is a
rather familiar method for all teachers as it is the main teaching method in
monograde schools. Thus, we are going to focus on the advantages or the
implications of implementing the method in multigrade teaching situations
only. You will be asked to use the method in a lesson and follow certain steps
that will help you to understand how “whole class teaching” can be used with
success in multigrade teaching.

Theoretical Background
In Whole Class Teaching as it is clearly indicated by its name the class is
considered as a whole and the teacher teaches students within a common
framework. This is the simplest approach for teaching. The teacher has only
one lesson to prepare, so both time and effort is saved. Fewer teaching
preparations have to be made and less supporting material has to be
prepared.
The main characteristic of this kind of teaching is that the lesson is planned
for students with average level of ability in the class. Depending on the lesson
the work might be relatively easy to be planned on. In addition in whole class
teaching it is rather easier to record students’ progress or mark children’s work
and keep good discipline.
However there are significant disadvantages for the multigrade situation,
serious traps appear for the teacher who uses whole class teaching for most
of his work, particularly in the basic subjects of language and maths. The
whole class teaching approach is usually very teacher-centred. A lesson is
presented -often in the chalk/talk style - and then either an exercise is set for
the whole class or a discussion is initiated.
The main problem here is that the entire lesson is aimed at the average
student in the room.
As we know, in the multigrade situation the range of achievement level is
often very large -certainly far wider than in most straight classes. Inevitably, in
a lesson like this, there will be low achievers failing to keep up with the work
and becoming more and more despondent day by day. There would also be
high achievers, bored by the teacher's lesson which is not challenging them
intellectually or providing them with any new skills or knowledge.
Both groups -the low achievers/younger ones and the high achievers/older
children -will become a problem to the teacher in terms of discipline and
noise.
But, most importantly, these children are being ineffectively taught. The low
achievers will lose confidence in themselves when they fail in this lesson
every day of the week. The high achievers will lose interest, and this may well
affect their attitude to school and learning for a long time.
The same situation occurs in monograde teaching as well, but of course most
of the times the problem is not so obvious. It is common true that is a single
grade class the range of student ability levels varies significantly even if the
children are of the same age and the class is considered as a homogenous
group by the curriculum. This explains partly, the variation in student
performance levels of pupils of the same class and the apparent different
learning outcomes. Many teachers in monograde classes realise these
dangers too and prefer to take measures by introducing grouping for students
for certain activities.
However, we must always remember that the whole class teaching method
has a place and an important role in the multigrade school. The teacher
benefits by
- Having more contact with all the students
- Easier material preparation
- Easier monitoring student progress and behaviour
- Increased student engagement in working with the whole class
in specially designed activities

The Whole class teaching can work particularly well in a serious of activities of
the multigrade class like the following:
- spoken language work -e.g. story reading and telling;
- prepared "talks" and presentations by children on different
subjects;
- general discussions generated by the teacher, language and
problem-solving games;
- physical education;
- music -singing, playing, dancing, art and craft;
- drama -class plays;
- environmental studies;

The multigrade school, as it has been mentioned before, covers a wide range
of ability, age and interests, but working together as a completely mixed group
for part of the day, as this is the situation in Whole Class Teaching, can help
students to develop cognitive skills and facilitate their learning as well as to
improve their relationships with each other. The Whole Class Teaching
method eventually results to a situation in multigrade classroom which is not
as competitive as the Monograde School often is. The children, too, feel as if
they really belong to a class. They also benefit from exchanges of ideas,
opinions and skills far broader than those found in the normal straight class
These collective discussions can be an enriching experience for children at all
levels.
 
Suggestions for further study

- The Multigrade classroom , A resource for small Rural Schools,

Book 5: Instructional delivery and grouping, NWREL, pages:
26-31

Suggestions for good practice and activities

Within the framework of this training activity you are going to implement
“Whole class teaching” in your class in a way that suit the multigrade school
setting. You will be asked to take into account aspects of multigrade teaching
that will help overcoming implications like the ones presented in former
paragraphs of this paper and in parallel contribute to successful teaching and
learning.


Schedule a Whole class teaching activity for a subject of your choice
- Try to choose a subject of the general interest of the children.
For instance it could be something that has to do with the
history of your village or town or the climate of the region.
- Careful planning, as always, is crucial in preparing to teach a
lesson to an entire multigrade class.

Bellow you can find some general guidelines that could assist planning for
Whole class Teaching.
Whole class teaching
Tips on designing, developing and implementing whole class teaching
activities

The following is extracted from: The Multigrade classroom, A resource for small
Rural Schools, Book 5: Instructional delivery and grouping, NWREL

Planning for Whole Class Teaching

The teacher should follow three general steps:

1. Choose a concept, theme, or skill determined to be important to all students.

2. Decide on an activity to introduce the concept to the whole class.

3. Develop appropriate activities for each instructional level and pay special attention
to:

o Subject integration (writing, reading, science, math, etc.)

o Needed resources
o References students can use
o How each level will be introduced to their activities
o How students will be evaluated

Develop special modules and worksheets for students if necessary.
- If you have a narrower range of ability and age levels to teach,
then several grades could complete the same activity.
- Another approach when working with a narrow range of student
levels is to require the same general activity, but add
requirements for higher-performing students. Although a lesson
focuses on history, students might be also engaged in writing,
reading, art, and research skills.

The whole class can be taught together when a common topic can be
identified that cuts across the different levels. In general, divergent or open
ended tasks are most appropriate.
Below listed, you can find some more advices on how to plan your activities
and develop lesson plans for whole class teaching.

The following is extracted from: The Multigrade classroom, A resource for small
Rural Schools, Book 5: Instructional delivery and grouping, NWREL

1. Determine something all students need and write it in the box entitled, General
Presentation Topic or Concept.

2. Decide how you will present the topic or concept -games format, discussion,
sharing session and so forth and put this in your lesson.

3. Enter the activities for each level into the Level/Group boxes. If your lesson is
quite detailed, you may wish to use a separate sheet of paper for filling in the details
for each level.

4. Prepare the activities and decide how each will be introduced to the different
levels. For younger children, you may need to teach the activity directly, but for
older, more self-directed students, the instruction may be written.


Develop a lesson plan for your whole class teaching activity
- Write it in a word file format and email it after the activity to your
training team
- Try to present details not only of the overall activity but also how
you differentiated teaching according to age or ability levels of
students.
- Describe in general the way you decided to work and the
philosophy of the activities you designed.

For each lesson fill in the “lesson plan & evaluation” form that follows.
- Try to be clear and give adequate information on the lesson. It
is preferable to fill the form electronically using your computer
and send it back to your national training supervisor via e mail.
- Respect the format of it, it will be used for evaluation purposes
 PROJECT MUSE

TEACHERS TRAINING LESSON PLAN & EVALUATION

Lessons’ Title:

Grade: Date: .

Other grades Present:

Subject:

Teaching Chapters of the Curriculum:

Teaching Targets:

Expected Results:

Required Time and Teaching Time table (for all grades):

(If the class was divided in groups for attending the lesson)
(Note: In Whole class teaching situations we respect grades as a single
group, i.e. only group A exists)

Required Time: teaching hour/s A B C D E

min min min min min

Time devoted to the grade/group under main consideration

in minutes
Time devoted to other grades/groups present in the
classroom in minutes

Required Educational Material (books, notes, worksheets etc.):

Required Equipment (ICT, lab equipment etc.):

Required Software:

Use of Internet and Links:

Description of the subject to be taught :

Prerequisite knowledge of students:

Implementation Scenario:

Steps to teaching of the subject:

EVALUATION DATA

Evaluation of students: (1 to 5)

Group Pupil Attention Performance Cooperation Group

Performance
Group Name1
1
Name2
Name3
Group Name1
2
Name2
Name3

General Feeling of the class

Did any specific problems occur during the lesson?

Would you consider it as successful?

Do you have any definite proposals for the improvement of teaching?

General / Other comments?