The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological research was to gather primary school teachers' views regarding multi-grade classrooms in detail. Data was collected during the first semester of the 2019-2020 school year from 20 primary school teachers in Izmir, Turkey who taught in multi-grade classrooms in the past. The snowball sampling method…

Multi-grade teaching is a widely accepted phenomenon in both developing and developed countries. In this article I report on a phenomenological inquiry into written feedback practices of teachers in multi-grade classrooms and how they described and interpreted their feedback practices pertaining to learners' writing activities in English First…

Effective inclusion of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) in multi-grade classrooms is complex, depending on the ability of teachers to meet challenges posed in delivering a broad and balanced curriculum while simultaneously meeting the often quite specific needs of pupils with SEN. This paper details the findings of research which…

The Higher Council of Education in Turkey (CoHE) has mandated the inclusion of a course titled 'Foreign Language Teaching in Primary Schools' in the curriculum of classroom teacher education in 2018. Although there are some attempts to release coursebooks based on the predetermined curriculum for that course, these attempts and the curriculum are…

Multi-grade primary classroom contexts provide opportunities to address the different needs of diverse learners through differentiating instruction. This mixed-methods study is a smaller component of a larger study undertaken in Australia, with other elements reported elsewhere. The study used ecobehavioural assessment to examine the relationships…

The skill of reading is regarded as the cornerstone of literacy learning in the foundation phase. Although it is the most complex skill to master, it forms part of literacy teaching. Most learners begin schooling without having any kind of exposure to reading. This lack of exposure introduces a number of challenges, which are consequently…

The challenges of ensuring the right to education are numerous, especially when working with marginalised populations in fragile contexts. Despite having the legislation, strong constitutional support, and even educational innovations designed to guarantee the right to education, a major gap exists in Colombia between political intentions and the…

As one of the world's largest and most diverse countries, Indonesia faces an enormous challenge as it seeks to upgrade the skills and knowledge of its widespread primary teacher workforce. This challenge is even more acute in remote rural areas, where practising teachers require specialized training to work in classrooms with children of different…

In 2010, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Kindergarten Readiness Act into law, which changed the kindergarten entry age so that children must turn 5 by September instead of December to enroll. The new grade level was put into place to promote school readiness for California's youngest learners. It also established a new grade…

Postdevelopmental perspectives in early childhood education and care increasingly reference alternative ways of understanding learning, growth and development in early learning. Drawing on these ideas, this paper examines research findings which focused on early childhood teachers' understandings of multiage grouping. The findings suggested that…

In 2010, Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger signed the Kindergarten Readiness Act into law, which changed the kindergarten entry age so that children must turn 5 by September instead of December to enroll. The new grade level was put into place to promote school readiness for California's youngest learners. It also established a new grade…

The theory upon which this study is based led to four predictions: (1) the small number of pupils in small schools creates opportunities to develop close teacher-pupil relationships and enables teachers to consider pupils' individual needs; (2) small schools can provide opportunities for fruitful co-operation among staff and, consequently, create…

This study examined elementary and secondary teachers' views about combination classes. Interviews indicated that most teachers preferred not to teach them and believed that such an approach was limited by organizational constraints. Results are interpreted as a consequence of the lack of understanding of developmental theories underpinning…

This paper reviews selected research studies of multigrade classrooms in Canada, Finland, eight developing nations (India, Korea, Maldives, Nepal, Thailand, Philippines, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia), and the United States. Based on information about the perceptions of multigrade instruction of principals and teachers, the following issues are…

This report, drawing on data from a teacher survey, summarizes methods for the effective selection of students and teaching strategies for combination classrooms (CC). A CC is defined as having two or more grade levels in one classroom. A total of 256 CC elementary school teachers completed a questionnaire, including participants of a Combination…