What?
I'm sitting here on a wet Sunday afternoon, planning my reading programme for the next couple. Lately, I've seen a lot of discussions on mixed-ability grouping in maths, which challenges the way I've been teaching for may years. I'm wondering if I should try it for reading. Here's some of the posts and articles I've read.
Education Counts (lots of references, but mainly for maths)
“We favour mixed-ability teaching because of its social and equitable benefits, and the fact that we encourage our teachers to see all of our pupils as having different needs, abilities and working styles.” Heidi Conner
This quote seemed important, although it is aimed at whole classrooms being mixed-ability groupings, vs streaming each classroom.
I also watched these video clips:
So what?
After reading the articles, and viewing the videos, I was most struck by the idea that ability grouping can limit the students and limit the exposure I, as the teacher, give them to more complex work, theories, and ideas. I could see the idea that grouping students, where in NZ, Māori children would statistically end up in 'lower groups' could be a form of apartheid. I already feel that having to report to parents twice a year that their child may be 'below' the National Standards is appalling in terms of students' self-belief, without me doing it with my groupings.
What next?
I have decided to change my reading groups to make them mixed ability. I have a lot of students who work very well with their peers, feeding off each others' ideas and knowledge. I will group those students together. I also have some students who don't work well with their friends (they get off task easily, and can be silly). Those students will be spread around the groups.
UPDATE:
Now that I'm putting my social groups together, some of the groups are one gender only...am I being sexist now?
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