Suastika Blog: MANAGING MIXED ABILITY CLASSES

MANAGING MIXED ABILITY CLASSES

Author : I Wayan E. S. Suastika

Mixed ability or ‘heterogeneous’ classes are terms used to describe classes made up of students of different levels of proficiency. There such no two learners are really alike and ‘homogeneous’ classes do not actually exist (Ur, 1991). The learners may have different strengths, weaknesses and approaches to learning. They may respond differently to various teaching methods and classroom situations. Mixed ability class is such a common thing at every school, children come to school with so many different backgrounds of knowledge and they have different levels of proficiency. “All children are born with potential and we cannot be sure of the learning limits of any child”. (Robert Fisher, 2001, p.1).

Dealing with teaching mixed ability classes, I try to cover what factors may cause or build this kind of class, the problems teachers may face, the advantages and strategies for teachers as well.

The very beginning things to talk about is the factor. There are many factors that influence the characteristics of the students that make up one single class. Some of these factors include age or maturity, intelligence and multiple intelligences, learning style, language aptitude, language levels, mother tongue, motivation or attitude toward the subject, and cultural background.

The next things to talk about are things that most of the teachers complaint about, yes, it’s the problem of teaching mixed ability classes. There are a number of possible problems that teachers may encounter or face when dealing with mixed ability environments. The first is dealing with discipline, teachers may find their mixed ability classes are chaotic or difficult to control. It’s a “characteristic” of that kind of class. Teachers will also find it difficult to provide things that are motivating and interesting to all students in a class because students may differ in learning styles, motivation and interests. The next problem is about materials, these are usually rigidly aimed at a certain kind of student and may not offer teachers options or flexibility. Participation will also become such a difficult things for teacher because in mixed ability classes, advanced students tend to participate more than the weaker one. Therefore, teachers are expected to give more attention to the weaker students in order to avoid the further negative effect to student’s proficiency in the subject.

Teaching the class with mixed ability students is not a piece of cake thing, first we need to make a clear distinction between mixed ability classes and mixed ability teaching. Most teachers have to teach mixed ability class but they may not be using mixed ability teaching strategy, so it’s better if teachers bring up well-prepared materials, proper materials using appropriate strategy. There are so many strategies that can be used by teachers to easier their problems. Teachers should know that it’s important to create a supportive learning environment because by doing that student can feel more comfortable to perform the best of the ability they have got. The next thing to do is managing the classroom as well as possible, this technique includes organizing the classroom layout for maximum learning potential, involving all students, praise and encouragement and so on. It’s also important to teach students about different learning styles and the different learning strategies for visual, auditory and kinesthetic learners. Teach them how to be resourceful so they know where to find the way out if they’re stuck. Give them the goal for the lesson, encourage them to review and assess whether they have achieved the goal by the end of the lesson. Dealing with the topics of learning or about materials of learning it’s recommended to vary topics methods of teaching, focus, materials and activities. This will generate their motivation and interest. The next tips to do is grouping students, make the lessons as fun as it can be and then teachers are also need to be aware with their students’ abilities and pitch the pace of the lesson accordingly. And the last one is giving them homework because it’s is an excellent tool to provide students of all levels and abilities with an opportunity to review and consolidate the material covered in class.

In short, there may be problems that teachers find in teaching mixed ability classes such as mentioned above. The best way out of those problems are depend on the teachers themselves. In fact this kind of class is- let me say- the real class in real life, therefore, there are no such a theory, method or strategy which is a hundred percent effective to cope the possible problems that may appear. once again it’s back to the teacher themeselves. The tips provided above may help teachers to solve the problems easier. Teaching mixed ability classes is a challenging thing to do, as long as the teachers teach proffesionally, things may go as what as expected.

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