How do teachers

approach the diversity in

a multi-age class?
An inquiry by Todd Bullock, Courtney Terrill, and Blake Bartlett
Why have we chosen to
pursue this topic?
What is a multi-age class?
A multi-age class is a classroom that has students from more than one grade
level. Multi-age classroom students remain with the same teacher for several
consecutive years.

How is a multi-age class different from a split class?

- The main difference between multi-age classes and split classes is their underlying philosophy.
While split classes are generally implemented out of necessity, multi-age classes are
purposefully designed to incorporate students of diverse ages and strengths.
There are several principles that are
foundational to multi-age classrooms:

- There is an integrated curriculum

- The teacher should not be known as the keeper of knowledge, but rather
as the facilitator of learning
- Learning that is continuous and child-centered
- Emphasis on the education of the whole child
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XyYG2Yi
YTVQ
 Sub Question #1:

How does teaching a multi-age class affect

classroom management for teachers?
- Strategies of teaching both curriculum
- Teaching one lesson but the focus for each grade be on a different aspect of the lesson
- Teaching a lesson and then marking the assignments differently
- Teaching two different lessons

- Efficient use of Instructional Time

- To teach a multi-age class it takes a lot of organizing and planning to make sure that both
curriculum are taught throughout the year
- They have to make sure that if they are teaching two different lessons the children not
being instructed are on task and not distracting the lesson being taught
- Problems for Teachers
- Most teachers who teach multi-age classrooms find that they are not as happy
and enjoy their job less than those in a normal classroom. This is due to the course
load being more work and the stress of trying to fit two sets of curriculum into
one school year.
- Another main problem is how to line up the two sets of curriculum so that one
lesson can be instructed to both classes
- With science and socials this can usually be done easily because they are
similar between the two grades or they will even sometimes teach one
grade level curriculum one year and the next the year after alternating each
year to make sure each student gets both
- With math and language this cannot be done, meaning that the teacher has
to make sure that both sets of curriculum are taught to completion each
year
 Sub Question #2

How does being immersed in a multi-age class

affect and/or change student learning?
● Peer interaction
○ Older students develop higher sense of responsibility and leadership skills
○ Younger students learn to actively seek out older students to help them attain knowledge and skills
rather than always going to the teacher
○ continuity within the same classroom over several years helps diminish the anxiety associated with
moving to a new classroom at the beginning of a new school year

● More diverse range of peers

○ Opportunities to find others with similar interests, aptitudes and abilities
○ More closely reflects the reality they will face in community, family, and workplace

● Socioeconomic benefit
○ minimizes competition because students recognize and accept that each student is at a different place
in his or her learning
○ multilevel classrooms provide students with stability and an ongoing relationship with a teacher
○ shortens the time it takes to learn new routines, thereby increasing instructional time
Negative effects:
● Much of the research we found described no negative effects of the multi-age classroom, this
can be expected because most of the information comes from government institutions
implementing the multi-age classroom
Observations
● Every class has a gap between the more advanced students and the students who are
struggling. Multi-age classes seem to have an even wider gap.
● Heavier workload on the teacher
● Difficulty integrating curriculum
○ Students moving schools
○ Teachers not communicating effectively between school years
● Older students typically do respond to leadership roles
● Opportunity to create more friendships between multiple grades
References
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Education for Today and Tomorrow | L'Education Aujourd'hui et Demain. (2019). Breaking Up: Strategies for Teaching
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“Multiage Classrooms.” The Expedition School, www.theexpeditionschool.com/about-2/multiage-classrooms/.

Chapter 1: Learning and Teaching in the Multilevel Classroom. (n.d.). Retrieved from
https://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/docs/support/multilevel/chap1.pdf

Edu.gov.mb.ca. (2019). [online] Available at: https://www.edu.gov.mb.ca/k12/docs/support/multilevel/chap1.pdf

[Accessed 4 Mar. 2019].
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[Accessed 4 Mar. 2019].

Stone, S. J. (n.d.). The Multi-Age Classroom: What Research Tells the Practitioner. Retrieved February 29, 2019, from
https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/0104/629b44ff0ce14eb25b41762e7dd1cd506222.pdf.

Veenman, S. (1996). Effects of multigrade and multi-age classes reconsidered. Retrieved February 29, 2019, from
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