It's called differentiated instruction. It is possible to explore the same basic concept at multiple levels with kids in the same class. The problems you're outlining here have more to do with the fact that the teachers insisted on teaching one lesson to everyone in the class than with the lack of streaming.
Streaming makes it possible for teachers to pretend that every kid in their class is at the same level, and to put the onus of keeping up with the teacher on the student. Both of those ideas are wrong. No matter how good the streaming, differentiation is essential if you're going to reach every student, or even most of the students, most of the time, and if a kid doesn't get what's going on, the correct response is not to tell them to work at it harder or drop to the next stream down. Yet you and I both know that that's the response they're going to get in a streamed setting.
As I've said before, I don't discount the potential for streaming for the most advanced and least able students. I'd be surprised if that was more than 5% of kids at the top and bottom, though. Everyone else manages better in a differentiated, mixed-ability classroom.
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Date: 2010-07-08 11:25 am (UTC)Streaming makes it possible for teachers to pretend that every kid in their class is at the same level, and to put the onus of keeping up with the teacher on the student. Both of those ideas are wrong. No matter how good the streaming, differentiation is essential if you're going to reach every student, or even most of the students, most of the time, and if a kid doesn't get what's going on, the correct response is not to tell them to work at it harder or drop to the next stream down. Yet you and I both know that that's the response they're going to get in a streamed setting.
As I've said before, I don't discount the potential for streaming for the most advanced and least able students. I'd be surprised if that was more than 5% of kids at the top and bottom, though. Everyone else manages better in a differentiated, mixed-ability classroom.