Self-Assessment 1

Mrs Jones lives in a remote setting and she teaches in a small multigrade school. She teaches an
average of 10 learners ranging from Grade 1 to Grade 7, and she works about eight hours a day
completing different types of tasks. She is the headteacher and the secretary. She is the kitchen staff
who prepares lunch for some of the learners whose parents are not able to pick them up during lunch
break. She is also the driver for the school bus. But she still enjoys teaching and working in a one-teacher
school. To Mrs Jones, all these duties are rewarding.

Now answer the following questions:

1. How is Mrs Jones benefiting from her experience as a teacher at the multigrade school?
• Mrs. Jones gains organizational and managerial abilities, strengthens her consciousness,
improves learner-teacher interactions, builds strong community relationships, and
develops a range of skills as a result of her experience as a teacher at the multigrade
school.

2. Imagine that you were Mrs Jones. How would you use the advantages of multigrade teaching
to make your workload lighter?
• If I were Mrs. Jones, I could reduce my burden as a multigrade teacher by creating a
richer learning environment for the students, boosting community involvement, and
giving students more responsibilities to work on.

3. State the factors contributing to the existence of some of the multigrade schools in your area.
• Political, geographical, cultural, and socioeconomic issues are all aspects that contribute
to the development of various multigrade schools in our area.