Materials for Multigrade Classrooms

Summary of Carrete-Marín et al. (2024)

Background & Existing Knowledge Teachers in rural, multigrade classrooms face a significant challenge in developing teaching materials that support inclusive and active-participatory learning due to a lack of knowledge and scarcity of specific resources.

New Insights from This Study

• Teachers in Spanish rural schools often prioritize graded and decontextualized materials like textbooks, even though they are not considered the most useful for multigrade teaching.

• The study highlights the critical need for teachers to be able to adapt or create specific, useful teaching resources tailored to their unique context.

Practical Applications

• Improving Teacher Training: Educational programs should improve training to equip teachers with the skills to select, adapt, and create effective materials for multigrade classrooms.

• Implementing Resource-Sharing Networks: Encourage the use of peer-support networks to share teaching strategies and collaboratively develop resources among teachers in rural schools.

• Creating Curricular Resources: The findings provide key elements to consider for the future development of inclusive curricular resources that are specifically designed for rural multigrade settings.

Conclusion The findings provide key elements for rethinking the teaching materials used in rural multigrade classrooms and for the future creation of curricular resources to improve educational practices.

Reference Carrete-Marín, N., Domingo-Peñafiel, L., & Simó-Gil, N. (2024). Teaching materials in multigrade classrooms: A descriptive study in Spanish rural schools. Social Sciences & Humanities Open, 10, 100969.

Suggested Citation Ross, E. M., & Malar, D. B. J. (2025). Materials for multigrade classrooms. Excellent Educator, 2(18), 6.