It is called “looping” and it is one of the most innovative techniques in the educational field, although my teachers at the university have virtually ignored the subject, save a passing mention in one class.
In essence, looping occurs when one teacher follows a group of students through several grades. In some instances, a teacher gets a group of students in kindergarten and he remains their teacher until they graduate elementary school. In other cases, looping occurs for two to three years, say third through fifth grades.
It is a lot of work on the part of the teacher having to develop a years worth of lesson plans for multiple grades. The pay off is that the teacher-student relationship is stronger and there is much more consistency in the lives of the children. Less time is wasted in developing new relationships and learning the new teacher’s classroom norms (the fancy new word for rules).
Thomas J. Hanson, editor of OPEN EDUCATION blog, just wrote an excellent article on looping. I like his blog and decided to dedicate a blog roll just to education. If you are interested in public education then give him a click. If you know of other good links, let me know.
Personally, I would be up for it, although I think I would prefer a third-sixth loop rather than a K-sixth loop. My particular skills are better suited for older, independent youngsters. Seems to me that setting up a dual loop in a school (K-2 and 3-6) would work really well for both teachers and students. Some teachers are better suited for the K-2 kids and others (like me) work best with older ones.
I think the main drawback could come with personality conflicts between student and teacher. Not everyone gets alone with everyone. Duh. This happens in non-looping classes too, but in that case the relationship must only be endured for nine months. Common sense, it would seem, would tell us that if there is a significant problem a student could be transferred into a different loop where he or she might find more success.
Why don’t more schools use this model? Resistance to change? Resistance to the extra required work in developing lesson plans? Resistance in administration or the community? I don't know. Click here for a pdf of some research that supports looping.
In essence, looping occurs when one teacher follows a group of students through several grades. In some instances, a teacher gets a group of students in kindergarten and he remains their teacher until they graduate elementary school. In other cases, looping occurs for two to three years, say third through fifth grades.
It is a lot of work on the part of the teacher having to develop a years worth of lesson plans for multiple grades. The pay off is that the teacher-student relationship is stronger and there is much more consistency in the lives of the children. Less time is wasted in developing new relationships and learning the new teacher’s classroom norms (the fancy new word for rules).
Thomas J. Hanson, editor of OPEN EDUCATION blog, just wrote an excellent article on looping. I like his blog and decided to dedicate a blog roll just to education. If you are interested in public education then give him a click. If you know of other good links, let me know.
Personally, I would be up for it, although I think I would prefer a third-sixth loop rather than a K-sixth loop. My particular skills are better suited for older, independent youngsters. Seems to me that setting up a dual loop in a school (K-2 and 3-6) would work really well for both teachers and students. Some teachers are better suited for the K-2 kids and others (like me) work best with older ones.
I think the main drawback could come with personality conflicts between student and teacher. Not everyone gets alone with everyone. Duh. This happens in non-looping classes too, but in that case the relationship must only be endured for nine months. Common sense, it would seem, would tell us that if there is a significant problem a student could be transferred into a different loop where he or she might find more success.
Why don’t more schools use this model? Resistance to change? Resistance to the extra required work in developing lesson plans? Resistance in administration or the community? I don't know. Click here for a pdf of some research that supports looping.
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2 comments:
Sounds like an interesting concept. I bet it works better in larger school districts. In small districts where you have only elementary school (and at times only one class per grade),you might end up with siblings in the same class, which I can see being both a good and bad thing.
Ken Holloway, retired superintendent of Nixa schools, and I used to discuss this quite often. It was tried, I believe, if my memory serves me correctly, back in the early 1990s in the 4, 5 and 6 grades in Nixa. It works great if you have a 'good' class, not so great if you don't have a 'good' class.
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