The conundrum of multi-grade Teaching in Zimbabwe’s satellite primary schools: Quality multi-grade Education crisis

Abstract

This qualitative study was prompted by the need to establish the challenges and prospects of quality Multi-grade Teaching in satellite primary schools. Through in-depth interviews with the Teachers in Charge of the schools and Focus Group Interviews with teachers, data were generated and analysed thematically. The Three-level Typology created by Dyson, Gunter, Hall, Jones and Kalambouka in 2007 provided the theoretical lens of the study. Regardless of the existence of multi-grade classes in the schools, all the Teachers in Charge and teachers staffing the schools were not trained in Multi-grade Teaching. Even the Cluster Heads and School Inspectors who should provide them with Multi-grade Teaching support also lacked training in Multi-grade pedagogy. Due to a lack of multi-grade teaching preparation and support, the teachers and Teachers in Charge only teach the curriculum content for higher grades in multi-grade classes. The learners in the lower grades experience learning content backlogs which affect their mastery of concepts as they go through the spiral primary school curriculum. Pre-service and in-service teacher development programmes in multi-grade pedagogy are recommended to address the multi-grade teaching crisis and enhance the provision of quality multi-grade education. The study adds knowledge to the discourse of quality multi-grade education.