Module 2 Elective
Module 2 Elective
Module 2 Elective
Environment
Introduction:
T
E
A
C
H
E
R
Module Map:
The Components of a
Multigrade Classroom as
a Learning Environment
The Learners
Other Adults in the
Multigrade
Classroom
The Teacher
This module will provide details about the human resources in a multigrade classroom, the
different roles of a teacher, and the importance of parental involvement in the success of
multigraded classes.
Core Content:
ENGAGE:
Analyze the illustration below, and give your perceptions about it.
https://heartfulness.org/education/heartful-teacher/
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EXPLORE: Read and understand the poem and give your thoughts about the poem.
Your thoughts
EXPLAIN:
Much has been learned through decades of research about children and how they grow and
develop in terms of all the aspects of human growth and development: physical, social, emotional,
intellectual. Through all these studies conducted among children from infancy through adolescence
(age 13 to 18), across cultures, there are some universal assumptions that can be made about
children.
1. Children grow and develop because of the interaction between nature and nurture; between
what they have inherited and what they learn from their environment.
There have been decades of endless debate on whether it is heredity or the environment that
plays a role in growth and development. Those who say it is nature that determines human
growth and development insist that all children are born with inherited psychological traits that
are transmitted directly through the genes from generation to generation. Thus, if your parents
did not perform well in school, you too will not perform well in school.
On the other side, the environmentalists’ claim that a person’s whole being was shaped by how
and in what circumstances a person was raised or “nurtured”. They believe that all people were
born equal and the later differences among them were only a result of differences in
environmental factors or their upbringing. Given this thinking, they believed that any baby could
be molded into any kind of adult, as long as the right conditions were provided.
Today it is clear that this is a meaningless debate and that the answer is not simply
either heredity or environment or nature or nurture. It is clear that human development and
human behavior is a result of many causes and factors. It is the result of heredity interacting
with environment interacting with time. This means that there are certain inherited traits that
a child is born with and these in turn interact with the quality of care that a child receives from
parents and other caregivers and both the inherited traits and child-rearing practices are also
affected by the timing and the amount of stimulation or support that a child receives.
For example, children who have been given appropriate nutrition and health care combined
with activities in their early childhood years (during the first six years of life) will have the
necessary foundations for learning in their later childhood years compared to children who have
not received adequate nutrition and health care during their early years of life and who did not
benefit from interacting with parents and other caregivers or brothers and sisters at play.
What we are born with---our hereditary potential---can be nourished and developed or stifled
and delayed depending on the type, the amount and the quality of our environmental
encounters and depending on when these encounters occur—whether these are too early or
too late.
Jean Piaget, the world famous developmental psychologist and epistemologist is the researcher
who has done most for our understanding of children’s thinking. His work and research suggests
that the ability to think develops in several stages in the same fixed order but not everyone moves
through the stage at the same time. Also, depending upon a child’s exposure and life experiences,
some children may think in one stage in certain situations and think in a different stage for other
things.
Elementary school teachers in multigrade classrooms work with children who are in three
broad overlapping stages:
Concrete Operational children, on the other hand, can do much logical thinking. Their handicap
is that the ideas they consider must be tried to concrete materials they can manipulate. Or, at the
very least, they must have such firsthand experience with the materials to think about them.
In the stage of formal operations, children are able to think more abstractly, there is far less
need to refer to concrete objects. With experience similar to adults, they can handle formal logic,
that is the use of the same mental operations as adults.
As elementary school teachers, you are working mainly with children who are in the intuitive
and concrete operational stage of mental growth.
It is also clear from reviewing the developmental characteristics of children across the ages that
children are not like adults. This means that techniques or approaches for teaching children must
take into consideration their characteristics, their needs and interests as children at specific stages of
growth and development. We cannot impose content or methods that are effective with adults
because children are children. They are not miniature adults.
No two children are exactly alike because of the combination and interaction between
inherited genetic traits and the differences in their interaction with people, objects, events and
places in the environment within which they are growing up.
4. Children’s cognitive growth in any one stage depends upon activity. The development of their
brain power is not fixed at birth but is a function of appropriate activity during any particular
stage. Children must engage in appropriate activities to learn. This means that they should
not be made to sit still and to listen to or observe others as the primary means of learning.
Intelligence=Activity.
This can be compared to studies of prehistoric humans which show that human
brainpower increased after the invention of tools. The chance to manipulate tools, to use axes,
knives, and shovels induced the brain to grow. As prehistoric men and women used the tools
they were challenged to explore and develop more uses for the tools and to invent new as well
more efficient ones. Thus, the activity itself of using tools helped develop their minds.
In the same way, for children as well as adult learners, activity produces cognitive
growth. This means that the role of experience and active learning is critical in generating
growth and change. This implies that an activity-based, hands-on approaches to teaching and
learning is far more supportive of children’s growth and development compared to more
passive activities like listening to lectures, reading silently, doing paper and pencil tasks most
of the time. Although these are also valuable and necessary parts of the classroom activities, it
is important to remember that if most of the activities are passive kinds of activities, there will
be less opportunities for facilitating cognitive development.
In a child-centered classroom, the teacher must be able to juggle and balance several
roles all the time.
The word “facilitator” is based on the Latin root word “facilis” which means “easy”. So
facilitating learning means “making academic and social learning as easy as possible for children.” This
should not be misinterpreted as meaning that children should not be presented with challenges
because that will not help them learn or move on to new stages. What is means is that the teacher
should try to remove the obstacles or roadblocks to children’s learning so that it will be possible for
them to learn. The teacher should be able to design instructional strategies that make it interesting
for children to involve themselves in the learning processes. If a child encounters difficulty
understanding a concept or achieving mastery of a certain skill, a teacher should be flexible and
creative enough to try other teaching techniques and methods that will help the child learn. The
teacher should not be trapped in a single approach to teaching a particular concept or skill because at
any given time children will react or respond differently.
A facilitative teacher allows and encourages children to learn in different ways about different
topics depending upon their own needs, interests and learning styles. For example, some children
need to explore plants and animals in their immediate environment to fully understand their parts
and functions, their characteristics and relationship to the environment. Other children will benefit
from observing and interviewing farmers and other people in the community who take care of plants
and animals as part of their work. Other children may learn these from reading books and looking at
pictures. Others may need both. So the facilitative teacher provides for as many opportunities as
possible to learn about plants and animals rather than just relying on a few pages of the prescribed
Science textbook.
The teacher who sees himself or herself as a facilitator encourages children to be active in their
learning rather than passive receivers of a teacher’s wisdom and knowledge. The children are
encouraged to think on their own, make their own decisions and to be creative and inventive
in their approaches to school work. As facilitators of learning, teachers will choose the most
comfortable and appropriate ways by which children learn. Thus, teachers who see themselves
as facilitators often rely on play, games, projects, experiments and other activities to make
learning as natural and comfortable as possible for children.
The facilitative teacher still provides direct instruction but carefully combines this with play and
other activities in an even fashion. The teacher who still relies primarily on lectures, drills, and
seatwork more than initiating and planning projects, games or the frequent use of a variety of
learning materials to teach specific skills and concepts is not really a facilitative teacher.
The facilitative teacher is a good “question-asker”, posing questions that will encourage
children to think about what they are doing in new and intellectually more mature ways. The
kinds of questions that a facilitative teacher asks are not answerable by “yes” or “no” or only
one correct answer. Rather, they are “how”. “why”, “what if” questions that encourage thinking
and that provide insights into how a particular child is thinking. The facilitative teacher also
encourages children to ask their own questions, listens carefully and takes their questions
seriously. The facilitative teacher sees these questions that children ask as excellent
opportunities for broadening and deepening their understanding of a particular topic.
The role of a teacher as instructor still involves transmitting knowledge but the teacher
chooses means and moments that are appropriate. For example, demonstrating the use of
new materials, reading a story aloud to the class, sharing important information that is given
more effectively when done directly. Direct instruction is effective only when used wisely. Even
children as old as ten or twelve have difficulty listening to long lectures. They may appear or
pretend to be paying attention but it is unlikely that they are still absorbing the information
and thinking about what the teacher is talking about lengthily. Children aged seven to nine
have all the more difficulty listening passively for long periods of time.
It will be helpful to keep the following points in mind when you are assuming the instructor
role with your students:
These ideas have been successful for many teachers and you may want to try them as well.
A well-managed classroom depends upon the mutual respect and cooperation between the
teacher and the students.
In a traditional classroom where the children are seen as and are actually treated as passive
recipients of knowledge, there is little need to be a good observer. The children are engaged in
very similar kinds of activities most of the time. But in an effective multigrade classroom which
is learner-centered, the teacher must be a good observer of children. You must be able to
observe the children individually at certain times and as a group of certain times to be able to
learn more about their involvement in the classroom activities, to gain information about how
they relate to other children, to gain more insights into the quality of their work, and their way
of thinking. Often this will mean keeping quiet and stepping back to watch them and listen to
them carefully. This is something that teachers tend to take for granted and in doing so, miss
out on very important and helpful information about the children. The information gained from
observation is then essential to evaluation as well curriculum planning.
Observation has been identified as essential to the evaluation of children’s progress and
their development in school. Informal evaluation based on observation or interaction with the
children is done on a daily basis throughout the school year. At other times, more elaborate or
formal means of evaluation is required. A conscientious and effective teacher always wants to know
if the goals of the curriculum are being achieved and how well learning is being achieved. So, a plan
for evaluation is very important.
The most important reason for a teacher to evaluate children’s work is to find out if they
are accomplishing what they are expected to accomplish. Evaluation is necessary to find out if and
how children have learned what they are supposed to learn. Without this important step, teachers
may be proceeding and teaching a new topic or a new skill even when a child has not yet learned a
prerequisite or required skill. A teacher may be pushing a child too hard and the child may not be
able to respond simply because he/she cannot understand and some adjustments have to be made.
It is important in any evaluation process that the teacher always keep the goals in mind. To
succeed in evaluation, the following steps will be helpful:
1. Before beginning a lesson, an activity or unit of study, think about and list down the goals and
purposes that make the experience worthwhile. The MLC’s and the Budget of Work list down
the instructional objectives that must be addresses. Review these before you start a specific
lesson.
What specifically will the children know and be able to do when the lesson is completed or the
activity is finished?
2. During the activity, keep the goals and objectives in mind. If necessary you may have to make
some adjustments. Here is where evaluation through observation allows you to make a quick
decision. For example, the children do not seem to understand your opening question even
after you have repeated it, this may call for a change in your approach. You may have to give
a concrete example or change in terms you are using the simpler ones.
3. After the activity, other evaluation tools can be used, still keeping in mind the goals and
purposes of the lesson. Tests or follow-up activities that will require application of the
concepts or skills taught through the lesson or activity may be used.
In order to fulfill the roles of facilitator, instructor, manager and supervisor of independent
learning, evaluator in a multigrade classroom, the teacher must invest in planning that is
knowledgeable, efficient, comprehensive and well-orchestrated. A good planner is also flexible
enough to make the necessary changes depending upon feedback from observation of the children at
work within a day or from day to day and based on more formal means of evaluation.
It is better to have broad goals in mind and to keep the instructional objectives in mind as a
reference for the scope (what to cover) and the sequence (in what order to teach the units of study)
rather than to adhere to these guides rigidly at the expense of real and effective learning. There must
always be room for change even if the plan for the entire ten-month school year has been laid out.
The flexibility would be in terms of adjusting the schedule or the types of activities while still covering
the necessary instructional objectives specified in the budget of work or the MLC for multigrade
classes.
It is advisable to develop weekly plans to carry out the year-long plan so that as the class
moves at a slower pace than expected or moves at a much faster pace it will be easier to readjust the
schedule of activities. As new interests or relevant topics of study emerge, these can be more easily
incorporated into the weekly plans. As you move through the school year a quick look at the weekly
plans and the revisions made on a week to week basis will immediately inform you whether the
weekly accomplishments are helping the class move towards achieving the overall program for the
year and if not, what the problems are. You can then begin to think about the possible causes and the
solutions to these problems.
Planning for a learner-centered multigrade classroom is less structured in the sense that
there is flexibility to adjust to the emerging needs. But more elaborate and detailed planning is
required so that all instructional objectives, short-term and long-term goals will surely be attained.
Parents
The interactions between the multigrade teacher and the parents of the children in the
multigrade classroom and the views of parents towards the school and the teacher are
influenced by some historical factors. Traditionally, in the Philippines, parents have viewed the
teacher with respect and often consider them as more knowledgeable in terms of the
education of their children. More often than not parents limit their involvement to their child’s
school life by helping with homework or school projects, attending school meetings and special
affairs, reading and signing the report card, joining the Parent-Teacher Association.
It is important to keep in mind that parents must be more actively involved in their
child’s schooling and educational experiences beyond the activities described above. We must
remember that they are their child’s first teachers and will continue to play an active role in
their child’s education throughout the elementary and secondary school years or even beyond.
A teacher may or may not be in complete agreement with a particular family’s approach to
child rearing but it is important that the teacher relate to parents with an attitude of respect
and cooperation.
Parents can be involved in the life of the multigrade classroom in several ways:
1. As partners in the education of their children by keeping in close touch with them to
keep them informed about their children’s progress in school.
2. By involving them as volunteers in the classroom.
Parent involvement is a critical factor for successful multigrade schools. A teacher’s efforts
to involve parents in their children’s education will go a long way in terms of improving home-school
relations.
+ =
Confident and
home
school competent child
Community Members
The multigrade school like any other school is an important part of the community. As such
the more integrated it is in the life of the community, the more effective it will be. When the
community members see that the children in their community are receiving quality education through
the school they will be more enthusiastic about supporting the school. Many schools in the Philippines
turn to the other members of the community aside from the parents of the children enrolled in the
school to support the school by providing additional and necessary resources. Local officials from the
barangay to the municipal and town level are valuable allies and teachers usually recognize this.
However, beyond providing material and financial resources as a form of support for the
school, community members can also be involved as resource persons as a form of support for the
school, community members can also be involved as resource persons who can help enrich the
curriculum by opening up their places of work to the children to expand their understanding of the life
in the community, particularly the people and their work.
Community members are valuable resources that can help concretize important concepts and
enrich the curriculum significantly. Older community members who are retired may be in a position to
work as classroom volunteers. The teacher can mobilize community involvement in the life of the
multigrade classroom by interacting with the community members. Much of the success of efforts to
involve the community depends upon the networking efforts of the teacher within the community.
EXTEND:
A. Describe the roles of a teacher by means of an illustration.
B. Identify and discuss the components of Multigrade classroom.
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Evaluate
1. Is it important that children should be engaged in developing rules in the classroom? Why or
why not?
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3. What is the most important ingredient that a teacher should possess in order to attain an
effective teaching-learning process in handling multigrade classes?
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B. Explain the Nature and Nurture concept in the development of the child.
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Topic Summary:
In order to fulfill the roles of facilitator, instructor, manager, and supervisor of independent
learning, evaluator in a multigrade classroom, the teacher must invest in careful planning and
preparation.
Post-Assessment:
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References: