Abstract:
In a post war context of school education two main challenges raced in
achieving effective leaning outcomes are the shortages of teachers and the issues related
to student non-cognitive skills. Non-cognitive skills are also referred to as soft skills or
personal skills such as interpersonal skills, motivation, ethical behavior, team work,
critical thinking, coping, innovation etc. In schools where teacher shortages exists
student learning lag mainly due to increased student idle time. Student enthusiasm
towards teaming is also low due to issues of war and deprivation. If students are
neglected due to lack of teachers, their learning as well as personality development are
adversely affected. Low achievement and behavior problems are common in deprived
school contexts. This paper suggests adopting multigame teaching strategies to
overcome these challenges. Multigrade teaching is a teaching arrangement where a
single teacher simultaneously instructs students of more than one grade in the same
class. There are significant benefits reported from worldwide research on multigrade
teaching and most significant is the potential it has in improving non-cognitive skills of
learners. Non-cognitive skills are developed in contexts of collaboration and support
from colleagues, facilitators and supportive others. There is also evidence to indicate
that if multigrade teaching is adopted systematically, the learner cognitive outcomes are
equivalent to that of monograde settings. In considering learning in post war school
contexts multigrade teaching is a suitable model. The existing research and
recommendations are presented.
