Multi age classrooms at Plato Academy
For the last twenty years, Plato Academy has framed our curriculum in a multi age philosophy and the academic and professional success of our graduates certainly seems to support that we are doing it right!
Grade level curriculum is an arbitrary construct. At Plato we have chosen to teach taking into account each student’s actual level of achievement. All students differ in abilities from subject to subject and mixed age grouping eliminates the standardization of curriculum and looks at the needs of each individual student. We all work in settings where age is not a determinant of success, a younger person is often a mentor or an older person. Why would a classroom of kids be different?
In a mixed age classroom, learning is not linear but rather holistic and it is supported by the needs of each student in the community. Various ages and ability levels in a classroom add complexity and richness to the kids’ learning explorations. Classrooms read and explore literature that is beyond “grade level” and we teach math concepts in ways that are relevant and make sense to kids regardless of how old they are.
In same age classrooms, kids are taught a standardized curriculum that assumes that because kids are the same age, they are developmentally, emotionally, and academically the same. So a small percentage excels, as defined by a grade (A or B) a percentage is average (C) and that’s good enough and the rest fail. A mixed age classroom avoids this. Students are aware of each other’s talents and challenges but they are less likely to compare themselves by age. All students are given the time they need to progress and excel.
As for the decisions made for grouping, we typically try to keep our learning communities together as they progress from teacher to teacher. This year due to pandemic constraints about group size, we needed to make decisions also based on other factors as we reduced group sizes to 10. Much care was made to keep parts of communities together as we also considered the social emotional development of our students.
Regarding content, as you know, each teacher explores different topics of study. Subject matter varies from year to year and is not standardized. The indepth study of the topic is what is valued and the integrations of math, science , literacy and the arts so that the students’ understanding is deep. It’s not at all about accommodating the learning of a 2nd grader vs a 3rd grader vs a 4th grader. We don’t at all consider curriculum in this way. Our goal is to graduate students that can walk confidently into any high school, including those with selective enrollment and be able to rise to any academic and social challenge. The journey at Plato from prek- 8th grade is what leads kids to that success.
For further reading:
The Element: How Finding Your Passion Changes Everything by Ken Robinson
Free to Learn by Peter Gray