In my country, it is quite common to separate the best students from others so they can learn more advanced subject matter. While this practice can benefit top students by ensuring they receive a sufficient challenge, I would argue against separating students this way because doing so is unnecessary, and it prevents an excellent opportunity for socialization.
Levelling students in school seems like a very natural thing to do. In many areas such as sports, music, or language study, it often makes sense to separate people by skill level. A beginning English student wouldn’t get very much out of an advanced English grammar course, for example. In these cases, allowing individuals of a similar level to practice and study together ensures an appropriate challenge for everyone. Of course, in basic academic areas such as math and writing, student skill levels will also vary widely. The benefit of separating students according to skill is that highly proficient students can progress at a faster pace, while lower-level students can have more time to develop.
But I would argue that this separation comes at a great cost. Kids need to learn how to work with others who have different skills, interests, and aptitudes. This is a basic part of proper socialization, which ought to be a main focus of schools. Separating students limits these socialization opportunities significantly. While it is true that students should be provided with material that is appropriate for their level, I would argue it is not necessary to divide students into different classes to accomplish this. These days, skilled teachers should learn how to assess different student levels in math or reading, and provide appropriate instruction and practice for students across the skill spectrum. This can happen when teachers devote most of class time to applied practice, where students can work on exercises alone or collaboratively and teachers provide feedback.
Therefore, even though there is educational value to separating students by ability, I believe a skilled teacher can create appropriately challenging learning experiences for students across a wide spectrum of skill levels. Schools should avoid separating students in order to create a valuable opportunity for socialization.
In my country, it is quite common to separate the best
students
from others
so
they can learn more advanced
subject matter
. While this
practice
can benefit top
students
by ensuring they receive a sufficient challenge, I would argue against
separating
students
this way
because
doing
so
is unnecessary, and it
prevents
an excellent opportunity for socialization.
Levelling
students
in school seems like a
very
natural thing to do. In
many
areas such as sports, music, or language study, it
often
makes
sense to separate
people
by
skill
level
. A beginning English
student
wouldn’t
get
very
much out of an advanced English grammar course,
for example
. In these cases, allowing individuals of a similar
level
to
practice
and study together ensures an appropriate challenge for everyone.
Of course
, in basic academic areas such as math and writing,
student
skill
levels
will
also
vary
widely
. The benefit of
separating
students
according to
skill
is that
highly
proficient
students
can progress at a faster pace, while lower-level
students
can have more time to develop.
But
I would argue that this separation
comes
at a great cost. Kids need to learn how to work with others who have
different
skills
, interests, and aptitudes. This is a basic part of proper socialization, which ought to be a main focus of schools.
Separating
students
limits these socialization opportunities
significantly
. While it is true that
students
should
be provided
with material
that is
appropriate for their
level
, I would argue it is not necessary to divide
students
into
different
classes to accomplish this. These days, skilled
teachers
should learn how to assess
different
student
levels
in math or reading, and provide appropriate instruction and
practice
for
students
across the
skill
spectrum. This can happen when
teachers
devote most of
class
time to applied
practice
, where
students
can work on exercises alone or
collaboratively
and
teachers
provide feedback.
Therefore
,
even though
there is educational value to
separating
students
by ability, I believe a skilled
teacher
can create
appropriately
challenging learning experiences for
students
across a wide spectrum of
skill
levels
. Schools should avoid
separating
students
in order to create a valuable opportunity for socialization.