Social Sciences & Humanities Open 3 (2021) 100109

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Social Sciences & Humanities Open

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ssaho

Classroom strategies of multigrade teachers

Genesis B. Naparan *, Vivian G. Alinsug
Saint Columban College, Pagadian City, Philippines

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This study examines the classroom strategies of the ten multigrade teachers of East district of Tukuran, Zam-
Multigrade teachers boanga del Sur, Philippines. The research environment has numerous remote elementary schools. It has six
Classroom management multigrade schools in which all teachers were handling two grade levels. The primary data collection method used
Collaborative learning
is a semi-structured one on one interview. The results of the study informed that the classroom strategies of
Differentiated instruction
Motivation
multigrade teachers include: Classroom Management, Collaborative Learning, Using Differentiated Instruction,
Connecting the Teaching to Real-life Situations, Integrating Technology in Teaching, and the flexibility of the
Teacher. Despite these limitations and challenges that the teachers and pupils encountered in this multigrade
school, they strived hard and tried their best to be meaningful and productive. There are several successful
techniques that these multigrade teachers used to enhance the abilities and skills of the learners that bring them to
compete in big schools. There are a lot of good things that came out precisely the classroom strategies of
multigrade teachers. Thus, Multigrade teaching can be more beneficial to learners when they apply strategies that
promote the interest of the learners.

1. Introduction 2019). In Turkey, teaching English language in multigrade classrooms

Education is the process of transforming a person into a better indi-
vidual. It develops one’s personality, provides a physical and mental
standard, and transforms people’s living status. Education allows every
individual to change into a better life and a better future. Following the
Republic Act 9155 (2001), education is free and compulsory for all
Filipino children. Thus, the education department mandates the estab-
lishment of complete elementary schools in every barangay forming
multigrade classes in some remote Barangays. To compensate for
teachers’ doubling efforts in the Multigrade classes, they are given a
special hardship allowance (D.O. 81, s. 2009). The monetary allowance
compensates for the more effort of the multigrade teachers.
Teaching multigrade classes is very challenging. Teachers complained
of a lack of sufficient time in handling classes (Mulryan-Kyne, 2004). In
Africa, Turkey and Netherlands, multigrade teachers experience chal-
lenges such as Transportation, illiteracy of parents, poor economic
backgrounds, excessive effort of the teacher, lack of time, language
problems and teacher challenges in the actual teaching and learning
process (Condy & Blease, 2014; Engin, 2018). The parents’ lack of in-
terest to their children’s education, insufficient fund from the govern-
ment, insufficient resources, underqualified teachers, and multigrade
teachers are some barriers in effective education (Du Plessis & Mestry,
becomes challenging as teachers perceived that their proficiency in that
subject is low (Do gan, Çapan, & Ci gerci, 2020). As a result, the perfor-
mance also of students in Multigrade classes becomes low (Checchi, D. &
De Pala, 2018).
In the Philippines, some teachers’ problems in elementary schools,
especially in rural and remote areas, are lack of training and insufficient
resources and findings (Magno, 2014). Moreover, multigrade schools are
situated in remote areas. Multigrade teachers then find ways to serve the
students better. They even gave part of their salary to purchase learning
materials for their students (Castigador, 2019). They are sharing their
resources for the welfare of their learners. During the practice teaching
years of elementary teachers, their mentors were trained to be ready in
the actual world of teaching, yet this training does not focus on multi-
grade teaching (Cadosales, 2017). The teachers’ ability to deliver the
lesson well is crucial to the students (Cadosales, 2011).
Despite these limitations and challenges that the teachers and pupils
encountered in this multigrade school, they strived hard and tried their
best to be meaningful and productive. There are several successful
techniques and strategies that these multigrade teachers used to enhance
the learners’ abilities and skills. In multigrade schools in the research
environment, the researchers observed that the National Achievement
Test (NAT) performance of a multigrade school is better than those that

* Corresponding author.
E-mail addresses: genesisbnaparan@gmail.com (G.B. Naparan), Vivian.alinsug@gmail.com (V.G. Alinsug).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2021.100109
Received 6 July 2020; Received in revised form 4 January 2021; Accepted 5 January 2021
Available online 18 January 2021
2590-2911/© 2021 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).
G.B. Naparan, V.G. Alinsug
are not. Thus, this prompted the researchers to dig into the classroom
strategies of teachers in handling multigrade classes. This research flows
from the situation that even in stifling teaching situations for multigrade
teachers, there were still good things that came out. The researchers
would like to collect ideas and points of view about multigrade teachers’
experiences about the classroom strategies in their station. This study
would then be a benchmark for future Multigrade teachers on how they
would deal with their classes.
1.1. Theoretical framework
This study is related to the theory of Procrustean Bed (Taleb, 2016). In
Greek Mythology, Procrustes was a man who provided a bed for travel-
lers. However, his guest should adjust himself or forced to adapt to be fit
in his bed. The word “Procrustes” means “he who stretches.” He did
something extraordinary way and challenged to match his guest to his
bed.
Consequently, Multigrade schools were purposely made to cater to
the less fortunate children living in a far-flung place who unfortunately
cannot afford to go to big schools. Multigrade teaching can be compared
to the Greek mythology of the Procrustean bed. Multigrade teachers need
to adjust to the situation they were. They need to make some adjustments
even if these meant stifling conditions of their lives. On the one hand, the
bed represents the multigrade teaching that accommodates different
guests, the pupils, or the learners.
On the other hand, Procrustes refers to the multigrade teachers who
try their best to fit all the learners in a one-size bed, the classroom.
Different travellers and guests, somewhat like the pupils with different
pupils who have different abilities, skills, and needs to cater to whom the
multigrade teachers are handling. Despite the differences, the multigrade
teachers try to find solutions or answers to fit or suit learners’ needs. With
these challenges, differentiated instruction and methodology were born.
Differentiated materials are used to cope with the different abilities and
needs of the pupils. As multigrade teachers, they do everything to impart
learnings despite inadequate facilities, learning materials, and even lack
of teachers to cope with and achieve quality education as mandated by
the Department of Education. In Procrustes mythology, he even cuts the
legs of his guest just to be fitted to his bed.
Another theory that relates to this study is the scaffolding theory of
Vygotsky. Scaffolding theory is best applied to the diverse students as
that of multigrade classes (Smagorinsky, 2018). There is a need to
acknowledge heterogeneity in the classroom to welcome collaboration
and success.
1.2. Objective of the research
This study aimed to determine the classroom strategies of teachers in
handling the multigrade classes effectively. This aimed at presenting
specific strategies that are applicable in teaching in the rural area setting.
2. Teachers’ practices of multigrade teaching in rural places
Multigrade education is a viable alternative for training for devel-
oping and even developed countries (Mulryan-Kyne, 2007). This alter-
native can be an effective and also cost-effective means of giving quality
education to the students. One qualified and dedicated teacher can help
many pupils in the far-flung areas regardless of their ages and cultures.
Multigrade education is a widespread practice as needed more in rural
areas compared to the urban ones in the developing countries (Aksoy,
2008). This practice aims at providing the children the access to universal
primary education. Pupils from rural areas also need education even if
there are only a few to be incorporated in one grade level. The teacher
being the central influencing factor in mediating teaching and learning
(Ramrathan & Mzimela, 2016).
Multigrade teaching is brought out because of condition, demand,
and the school population that the enrolment of a particular school could
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Social Sciences & Humanities Open 3 (2021) 100109
not meet the standard number of learners (Joubert, 2010). It is the
teaching of different learners where the teacher is the role model in the
class of various grade levels, which the learners are consist of two or more
grades (Chau, Sibli, & Thanh, 2001).
Multigrade teaching can be experienced as challenging as the teacher
needs to vary his/her instructional materials and activities to accom-
modate the needs of the children of different grade levels and ages (Quail
& Smyth, 2014). Lower levels require a set of Instructional materials that
is not also applicable to the other level.
Multigrade classes came out because of the needs, demands, and
necessity of particular places (Little, 2001). Multigrade teaching was
established because of the distance of the location of the sites and the
small population.
Even if teaching a multigrade classroom is so challenging, there are
still good things that came from it. There are always classroom strategies
that are observed. One of them is reducing or capitalizing on the pupil’s
heterogeneity (Hyry-Beihammer & Hascher, 2015). In a multigrade
classroom, there are different kinds of pupils. Thus, the teacher can use
the unique skills and talents as well as the advanced skills of other pupils
in helping their other classmates. Some pupils were intellectually supe-
rior compared to others. Therefore, teachers allow them to be facilitators
and little experts to their other classmates. To acknowledge pupils’ het-
erogeneity, practices like following a spiral curriculum, having working
plans, and peer learning are relevant (Hyry-Beihammer & Hascher,
2015).
One technique in teaching a multigrade classroom is the learning
environment, learning process, and learning outcome (LEPO) framework
(Msimanga, 2020). In teaching multigrade, it is very important for
teachers to prepare well the learning environment. They have to ensure
that the there is proper time allotment of the learning process of the
students. The students then are given assessment tasks that match their
academic competence.
The creation of Multigrade education is considered as a classroom
strategy as school administrators perceived it as beneficial to many
people and to achieve the education for all (Buaraphan, Inrit, & Kocha-
sila, 2018; Thephavongsa, 2018). Because of the creation of multigrade
education, students from remote and far places have access to education.
Some teachers continue to serve their needs to be educated.
Reading classes can become a classroom strategy in multigrade
teaching as it fosters the emotional, intellectual, and social and academic
well-being of the pupils (Sampson, 2016). Its excellent effect is not just in
the educational aspect of a person but also in other elements.
Some examples of differentiated teaching and learning strategies
include: Flexible grouping, learning preferences, anchoring activities,
tiered activities, adjusting oral and written questions, learning centers,
and independent and shared study projects (PASTEP, 2000). They pro-
vide varied activities for students to learn. Students can choose which
way they learn best. Other teaching strategies in Multigrade teaching
include peer teaching and integrated teaching, and different groupings
such as adjacent grouping, row grouping, and sex grouping (Mortazavi-
zadeh, Nili, Isfahani, & Hassani, 2017; Tiernan, Casserly, & Maguire,
2018).
One of the classroom strategies in Multigrade education in the
Philippines is the conduct of Escuela Nueva, an educational innovation
from Colombia. It is known for developing soft skills for students (Le,
2018). Multigrade teaching pedagogies need to be pupil-centered.
Little (2004) emphasizes four subjects or lesson adjustment tech-
niques that are useful in multigrade classrooms, namely: The Multi-Year
Curriculum spans, Differentiated Curricula, Quasi- Monograde, and
Learner and Material- Centered. In the Multi-Year curriculum span, units
of lesson content are delivered through all grade levels. The exercises
given are different and suitable to the learning levels of the pupils. The
fast learners have more challenging or few hard tasks than slow learners.
The most common classroom strategies used in the multigrade class in
the Philippines are on Daily Lesson Log or DLL for time management
(Ballesteros & Ocampo, 2016). DLL is used as the guidepost sketch of
G.B. Naparan, V.G. Alinsug Social Sciences & Humanities Open 3 (2021) 100109

everyday activities. For time management, it is about the listing of daily Table 1
priority activities. The research participants.
In improving and changing the life of an individual, teachers do play a Participants Gender Number of Years in Teaching Grade levels
crucial role. The future of an individual lies in the hands of teachers. Multigrade Handled
Multigrade teachers are the most challenged. They have many functions Participant 1 Female 3 years Grade 1 &2
to portray, as sources of knowledge, facing the challenge of handling Participant 2 Male 5 years Grade 5 &6
multigrade classes, and achieving the goal of the department of educa- Participant 3 Female 4 years Grade 5 &6
tion, which is “Quality Education.” Trying to prove that even if it is a Participant 4 Female 4 years Grade 1 &2
Participant 5 Male 4 years Grade 5 &6
multigrade class, it still competes like the monograde classes. It has been Participant 6 Male 10 years Grade 3 &4
found according to the literature, that Multigrade teaching a phenome- Participant 7 Female 3 years Grade 1 &2
non that is most common in third world countries. It is common in Participant 8 Female 3 years Grade 5 &6
remote places where pupils do not meet the minimum number to become Participant 9 Female 25 years Grade 1 &2
Participant Female 3 years Grade 5 &6
a monograde class. Most of the pieces of literature dealt more with the
10
difficulties in multigrade education. Only a few of them exposed the
classroom strategies that are also done in this area of teaching (Balles-
teros & Ocampo, 2016; Buaraphan et al., 2018; Hyry-Beihammer & 2.5. Data gathering procedure
Hascher, 2015; Le, 2018; Little, 2004; Msimanga, 2020; Mortazavizadeh
et al., 2017; PASTEP, 2000; Sampson, 2016; Thephavongsa, 2018; &; The researchers made a formal letter asking the School’s Division
Tiernan et al., 2018). Thus, this study unveiled some of the classroom Superintendent to conduct the study. Once given permission, they
strategies of multigrade teachers in their classrooms. approached the multigrade teachers’ respective heads to inform them
about the study. After meeting the school heads, the researchers then had
the initial conversations with her target participants. The researchers
2.1. Research design
introduced the research to the target participants and sought their con-
sent to participate in the study. As the participants gave their consent, the
The study adopted a qualitative research approach. According to
researchers arranged with them a schedule for the interview. The re-
McMillan and Schumacher (2006, p 315), the qualitative research
searchers observed the most convenient time for the research partici-
methods are a kind of research study in which the instrument used in
pants during the interview.
collecting data is based on an interview in which the researcher and
In gathering the data, the researchers upheld the Ethical principles
research participants interact face to face. The qualitative research
necessary in collecting the qualitative data. The researchers treated the
methods describe and interpret individual culture, beliefs, traditions, and
participants with the utmost respect. The researchers always preserved
personal point of view. In particular, the study adopted a transcendental
the anonymity of the participants and the confidentiality of the data they
phenomenological approach of research, in which the researcher utilizes
got. The researchers were concerned only with the essence of their ex-
interviews to gather information from the research participants. Tran-
periences as to how they described them. During the interview, the
scendental phenomenology allowed the researchers to bracket their
participants were given the freedom to finish or not the process. After the
biases about the phenomenon they explored and allowed them to go
interview, the researchers recorded the data gathered and proceeded to
“back to the things themselves,” the essence of the participants’ experi-
data analysis.
ences (Quito, 2011).

2.6. Data analysis

2.2. Research environment
This study was done during the school year 2019–2020 at the
different multigrade schools in Tukuran East district, Municipality of
Tukuran, Zamboanga Del Sur. Since Tukuran has many far-flung bar-
angays, there are many multigrade schools.
2.3. Research participants
This study’s research participants were the teachers of multigrade
schools who have been employing the classroom strategies in their
respective situations. In aiming for a constant pattern of experiences, the
researchers only included the research participants who have experi-
enced teaching multigrade classes with at least three years of experience.
The research participants also were all coming from rural elementary
schools. They were chosen using purposive sampling. According to
McMillan and Schumacher (2006, p 319), purposive sampling involves
selecting information to increase the utility of information obtained from
a small sampling. The descriptions of the research participants are shown
in Table 1.
2.4. Research instrument
The main instrument of this study is the researchers aided by their
interview guide. The guide is composed of Engaging, Exploratory, and
Exit Questions. The Exploratory questions dug on the essence of the study
as they asked about the multigrade teachers’ classroom strategies.
Qualitative research aims to identify categories and generate patterns
of responses through an inductive process (McMillan & Schumacher,
2006, p. 364). According to Creswell (2009, p. 183). The process of data
analysis involves preparing data for analysis, conducting different re-
views, moving deeper and deeper into understanding the data, repre-
senting the data, and making an interpretation of the broader meaning of
the data.
In this study, data obtained from one-on-one interviews were tran-
scribed and coded and responses grouped according to the questions.
Thematic analysis, according to Kleiman (2004), was used to analyze
data. The coded data were used to generate themes for review. The
themes were then used to create sub-themes to the obtained full meaning
of data.
2.7. Ethical considerations in research
McMillan and Schumacher (2006, p142) state that ethics is about the
wrongdoing and the right of every individual. They also discussed that
the study’s researcher is the main person to take charge of the ethical
standards to which the study adheres.
In this study, the researchers gave the research participants a full
guaranty of their data secrecy. The names of the participants were not to
be mentioned in the study. Participants had the choice to participate or
not or to withdraw their participation without any charge. A consent
letter was shown to the participants before going to join to any research.
Participants were also requested to sign a consent form to agree to
participate in the interview.

3
G.B. Naparan, V.G. Alinsug
3. Results
This phenomenological study presents the classroom strategies of
multigrade teachers. The study results conveyed that there are classroom
strategies that the teachers were doing in teaching multigrade classes.
They were categorized into six themes, namely: (a) classroom manage-
ment, (b) Collaborative Learning, (c) Using Differentiated Instruction, (d)
Connecting the teaching to real-life situations, (e) Integrating technology
in teaching, and (f) Flexibility of the teacher.
3.1. Classroom management
Classroom management represents an essential skill and knowledge
for teachers to achieve a better learning experience for the pupils (Wolff,
Van den Bogert, Jarodzka, & Boshuizen, 2015). Classroom management
is one of the themes that came out during the interview of the partici-
pants. According to them, one of the classroom strategies is to manage
their classrooms successfully. This practice was mentioned by partici-
pants 4 and 6. According to participants 4:
… Above all, the most important strategy in teaching multigrade is class-
room management, because if the teacher can control the situation in the
classroom, active learning will follow.
This classroom strategy was also given the utmost importance by
participant 6. She shared:
… Most important of all is classroom management because without
classroom management; you cannot achieve your goal. -P6
3.2. Collaborative learning
Collaborative learning involves students working together and solving a
specific problem, completing a task, and solving a certain problem (Laal &
Laal, 2011). It is also known as “teamwork learning.” Participant 7 narrated:
For me, there are a lot of strategies in handling a multigrade class.
Some of those include collaborative learning, where the pupils work
hand in hand. They help each other in performing the given tasks.
Collaborative Learning as a theme for classroom strategies of multi-
grade teachers includes Peer Tutoring. Participants 5 and 8 performed
collaborative Learning through “Peer tutoring.” Participant 5 narrated:
“In peer tutoring, I group my pupils according to their ability and ca-
pacity and they learn in their group.” In peer tutoring, they paired their
pupils: the high performing pupil was paired with the lower performing
pupil. Participant 8 then described: “If possible, there should be a group
work and peer tutoring the teacher should group the pupils accordingly
so that the fast learner pupil can help the slow learner pupil.” The
teachers grouped the pupils according to their abilities and capacities.
They also gave activities are based on their standards of Learning.
Collaborative Learning or teamwork learning then leads to more variety
and creativity in doing the exercises.
One of the participants named her collaborative learning strategy is as
high five reading strategy. According to Participant 1:
The classroom strategy I used in teaching multigrade is the High 5 Reading
strategy. In this strategy, the pupils are engaged in different activities that
are suited to their level of knowledge. This activity leads their old knowl-
edge to the new knowledge that teacher imparted. By using this technique,
students are able to understand the materials and direct their attention to
the details. It thus enhances students learning and helps them prepare for
an essay or report submission or even for a test.
3.3. Using differentiated instruction
Differentiated Instruction is a way to demonstrate how educators
incorporate strategies in addressing the needs, interests, and learning
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Social Sciences & Humanities Open 3 (2021) 100109
styles of their pupils (Taylor, 2015). Citing this theme, Participant 7
described:
For me, there are a lot of strategies in handling a multigrade class. Some of
those include … Differentiated Instruction, where the pupils are given ac-
tivities differently according to their capability.
Participant 6 also narrated:
… In differentiated teaching, the teacher will conduct the activities in
different ways according to the ability and skills of the pupils.
Participant 5 executed Differentiated Instruction through indepen-
dent learning. To maximize his time in teaching multigrade, those
achievers in the class were given tasks that they can perform individually.
He said:
In an independent study, those pupils who are achievers, they learn
independently. They don’t need more explanations from me. I only give
them instructions on what to do, and they are all responsible for the rest.
Meanwhile, as differentiated instruction requires more time to perform,
one participant did it through following their Budget of Work (BOW) from
the Department of Education. With this, Participant 3 narrated:
As of this time, the Department of Education provides a remedy for
the teachers in multigrade schools. We have a Budget of Works (BOW)
to be followed in teaching multigrade classes. The competency is the
same and the subject/ topics. However, when it comes to activities to
be given, they differed depending on the levels of the learners. The
materials provided to us help in dealing with our pupils.
3.4. Connecting the teaching to real life situation
Another classroom strategy for Multigrade teachers pertains to
relating their teaching to a real-life situation. This practice is a
practical way of education in which the teacher is making the class-
room the real world for pupils. This theme includes the explicit
strategy of teaching and integrative teaching. Referring to connecting
to Real-life situations, the teacher is using her experiences as a guide
for the pupils.
Participant 4 then said: “I prepare visual aids and teach them prac-
tically to true to life experience. It helps pupil to understand how their
learning from school applies in the real-world situation.”
Connecting to a real-life situation, one multigrade teacher did it
through “Explicit Teaching.” Participants 6 then mentioned:
In explicit teaching, the teacher is the model. She/he is the one who does or
performs the tasks first. The pupils will follow. [Explicit teaching] is a learner-
centered curriculum.
Connecting to real-life situations can also be done using the integra-
tive strategy. In real life, the students are not just concerned about one
aspect but of multiple elements in their lives. They also have not only one
subject to learn, but they have to learn different items. Thus, integrating
one subject to the other can be done by the teacher. According to
Participant 7:
Learning can also be done through integrative Teaching, where the
teacher integrates other subjects in particular lesson of one subject.
According to the said research participant, her integrative teaching is
useful because, in this technique, the teacher integrates other subjects in
a particular lesson. The pupils then, in return, can relate because the
teacher used localized instructional materials.
3.5. Integrating technology in teaching
Another classroom strategy for multigrade teachers, as revealed from
their responses, is on integrating technology in teaching. This practice
can be done through the use of digital tools in teaching. Participant 2
narrated:
G.B. Naparan, V.G. Alinsug
The classroom strategies I used in teaching are … technology in the
classroom. It is essential nowadays to use digital tools in the classroom
because by using such, teachers and students are finding ways to learn
more, learn faster, and even learn easier. Technology is also a “tool” that
the teacher uses to convey the lesson or interact with students.
3.6. Flexibility of the teacher
The flexibility of the teacher is also an essential factor in teaching
multigrade. Multigrade teachers should be flexible and equipped with the
knowledge of using various strategies. They need to overcome the
problems and peculiarities inside the class. Multigrade teachers should be
flexible to make the Curriculum fitted to the multigrade classes. With
this, Participant 8 mentioned:
The teacher should be flexible …. It is the most important classroom
strategies in multigrade teaching because the teacher prepares flexible and
appropriate materials. These include teacher-guided activity sheets, group
learning worksheets, and individual practice worksheets.
4. Discussion and conclusion
The Multigrade teachers in some rural elementary schools in the
Philippines described that handling multigrade classes required class-
room management, collaborative learning, differentiated Instruction,
connecting the teaching to real-life situations, and integrating technology
in teaching using digital tools, and needs Flexibility of the teacher.
Having proper classroom management leads to better results. As these
teachers handle two grade levels, they always find the importance of
managing their classroom well. They see to it that their situation is under
their control. Accordingly, classrooms characterized by greater cohesion
and-goal direction have a lesser extent of disorganization and conflicts.
They offer better opportunities for learning that contribute success to the
learners. Multigrade classes need to be managed appropriately to ensure
that students learn well in their classroom stay.
Like other researches, the study found that collaborative learning in
teaching multigrade classes is effective. When pupils from different dis-
ciplines work together, each individual brings new ideas, and pupils can
gain a different perspective from each other team members (Soliman, &
Okba, 2006). The collaborative strategy is common in multigrade
teaching, reducing or capitalizing pupils’ heterogeneity (Hyry-Bei-
hammer & Hascher, 2015). Heterogeneity can be best utilized when
every pupil in the classroom is given attention. This utilization would
result in working together.
Furthermore, having the classroom strategy in reading a multigrade
class is in line with Sampson’s (2016) study. Accordingly, reading in the
multigrade classrooms fosters pupils’ emotional, intellectual, social, and
academic well-being. Peer tutoring, collaborative work, and different
activities suited to the learners are good in multigrade teaching (Berry,
2001). This research found that a specific collaborative strategy coined as
a “High five reading strategy” effectively teaches reading to multigrade
students. This strategy is done by giving the learners activities that suited
their level of knowledge.
This study found that differentiated Instruction suits the multigrade
setting. Differentiated Instruction constitutes varied strategies to address
the students’ individual needs (Watts-Taffe et al., 2012). Differentiated
Instruction being pupil-centered is connected to the classroom strategy in
multigrade teaching that is “Escuela Nueva” or developing soft skills to
students (Le, 2018).
Meanwhile, individualized learning can produce higher student
engagement rates (Roelofs & Veenman, 2000). As revealed in this study,
some multigrade teachers maximize the individual abilities of their stu-
dents. Some were given particular tasks to do so that the teacher can
address other students’ needs in the class.
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Social Sciences & Humanities Open 3 (2021) 100109
For multigrade teachers to foster learning in their classrooms, this
study found that they were doing contextualized teaching. They con-
nected their lessons to the real leaf situations of the students through
explicit instructions. Explicit Instruction involves direct explanation and
modeling from the teacher (Reutzel, Child, Jones, & Clark, 2014).
Learners in multigrade classes learn best, particularly in reading classes,
when their teachers explicitly teach them. When the teacher implements
a real-life situation lesson presentation, the students can see the point in
learning a topic. They become interested and will not sit quietly and
attentively, patiently waiting to be filled with knowledge. The student
will enjoy participating and interacting in the class discussion because
they can relate (Candace Alstad, 2019). Connecting the lessons to
real-life allowed the multigrade teachers to do Integrative teaching. The
contents of other subject areas were integrated into one particular task to
learn multiple competencies simultaneously. It involves bridging one
focus from the other such that reasoning and thinking skills in reading
(Turuk Kuek, 2010). The multigrade classroom provides a qualitatively
better teaching and learning context in many dimensions than a
single-grade setting (Mulryan-Kyne, 2004).
This study also found that technology plays a significant role in
teaching multigrade classes. The integration of technology in teaching
might be viewed as progressive steps toward the effective use of tech-
nology to improve Instruction and enhancing learning. The current status
of technology integration efforts could then be evaluated by the degree to
which teachers and students have access to educational technologies, use
technology for instructional purposes, and implement technology effec-
tively to facilitate learning (Davies, 2011).
Since the multigrade setting includes a situation where a teacher
handles multiple classes, the teacher must be flexible in conducting his/
her class. As narrated by the study participants, they are handling mul-
tiple grade levels, and thus, they need to adjust to their classroom situ-
ation. They have to prepare different learning materials for their diverse
students. Smit, Hyry-Behammer, & Raggi (2015) found out that an
adaptive teacher is the best thing that happens in multigrade teaching.
When the teacher is adaptive, he/she is flexible in doing his/her re-
sponsibilities. He/she can adjust to his/her current situations.
Multigrade teachers have challenging responsibilities in front of
them. They are required to teach children of different grade levels and
ages. Teaching a multigrade class involves a lot of patience and perse-
verance. Nevertheless, there are still good things that took place in
multigrade classrooms. The learning process is positive when there is
efficient classroom management. Unity in the classroom is manifested
when there is collaborative learning. Uniqueness is appreciated when the
teacher uses differentiated Instruction. Furthermore, learners are still the
center of the learning process. The teachers become motivated when they
realize that their students are learning and doing better in their classes.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Genesis B. Naparan: Writing – original draft, Conceptualization,
formulated the general flow of the discussion of the literature review,
discussed the findings of the study, formatted and finalized. Vivian G.
Alinsug: Writing – review & editing, helped in developing the argument
in the exposition of the problem, conducted the interviews to the
research participants, coded the data and have them finalized by the
corresponding author, helped in revisiting the literature in strengthening
the discussion of the findings, proofread the full-blown manuscript
before submitting it for publication.
Declaration of competing interest
We, the authors of the manuscript entitled “CLASSROOM STRATE-
GIES OF MULTIGRADE TEACHERS” declare that we have no known
competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have
appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
G.B. Naparan, V.G. Alinsug Social Sciences & Humanities Open 3 (2021) 100109

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