On the merits of multiage classrooms

On the merits of multiage classrooms

Reflection on the quality of learning environments is

a hallmark of the educational professional. Those professionals who work in small schools often wonder about

the costs and benefits of the multiage and multigrade

classrooms with which they are more familiar than their

colleagues in larger schools. This interest is currently

shared by the increasing number ofteachers in mediumsized schools who find themselves teaching split grades.

Proposals to close small schools often act as a catalyst

for debate on this issue, with the intuition of parents and

teachers frequently pitted against the efficiency rationale

of district administrators. Such debates usually end with

the execution or reprieve of the school in question, but

with the educational issue unresolved.

In this paper, I shall attempt to summarize evidence

that bears on the question of the merits of multiage

classrooms. This includes not only the findings of experimental research, but also relevant evidence from

ethology, anthropology, and history. The weight ofthis

evidence strongly suggeststhat multiage classrooms have

many benefits to children which cannot be as fully realized in age-segregated classrooms.