Learning by Teaching and Increased Exposure in the Classroom

Learning by Teaching and Increased Exposure in the Classroom

The idea of inclusion or mainstreaming has been around the education community for a long time. Both of these ideas involve including students with learning disabilities in regular classrooms to be taught by regular teachers rather than special education teachers. The difference between the two is that inclusion allows for a learning disabled student to be in a classroom for the majority of their day and mainstreaming allows or a learning disabled student to be in a regular classroom for a set amount of time if they have shown that they (the special needs student) can keep the same pace as the students in the regular classroom. Both inclusion and mainstreaming that include special needs students in regular classrooms could easily be modified to help students without learning disabilities to excel at their education. Including students from a lower class level in a higher-class level could benefit both the higher level students as well as the visiting students.

By including a group of students from a lower level class (preferably 1 grade level lower), in an upper level class, both students would benefit. The upper level students would benefit by working with a lower level student and mentoring/tutoring them in their (the upper level) subject. The lower level students would gain extra knowledge, which they would normally learn in their next year of school. Along with getting a leg up on the next year of school, the lower level students would be exposed to different teaching techniques when the teacher of the upper level class was teaching his or her lesson.

This theory is very similar to mainstreaming with the exclusion of learning disabled students. The Latin phrase "Homines dum docent discunt," which means people, learn while they teach (James Miltner, Graduate Instructor at University of Michigan, March 24, 2005). This phrase demonstrates how an older student mentor would benefit greatly from tutoring a younger student. A great example of this would be in math courses. Generally a student will take Algebra then progress to Geometry the next school year. If the students from the Algebra (A-students) course were to meet with the Geometry class (G-students) once a week and be taught a lesson by the Geometry teacher and be paired up with a student from the geometry class, they would have a head start on what they were to learn their following year. This would allow the A-students to do better when they reach the Geometry class the next school year. The G-students would then, as Miltner put it, "learn while they teach" the visiting A-students. The G-students would have to apply the knowledge that their teacher just presented to them in an effort to explain or assist in doing an assignment with the A-students. Both the Algebra teacher and the Geometry teacher would be in the classroom to assist the student pairs but would not directly explain the assignment to the A-students. This would benefit the G-students comprehension in the area that they were currently studying.

Split grade classes in elementary school are currently in place in some districts. They generally place the slower upper level or grade children with the faster children in the lower level or grade (Jennifer O'Brien, Language Arts and Social Studies instructor, Dewitt Junior High School, March 23, 2005). By splitting a class into two grades it assists the faster students who are in the lower grade to comprehend the higher-grade material earlier.

O'Brien described the concept as a split second and third grade class. The third graders that were not the strongest students from their prior year would be placed in in this class and the new second graders who were exceptional in their first grade classes could be placed together. The third grade students would get the chance to view the lessons that they may have misunderstood the previous year and the second graders would get a chance to see the lessons that the third graders were learning. By being in the same classroom both students are getting exposure to material that will assist them in their future classes.

The students in this class have the chance to interact with other students who may understand a concept a little better than them. For example, a third grader who may have learned about his multiplication tables in second grade but was not strong in his English skills could be paired up with a second grader who understands the new English skills that are being taught in the second grade portion of the class but is not strong with the multiplication tables. The second grader could help the third grader with his English assignments and the third grader could help the second grader with her multiplication tables. This relationship would demonstrate "homines dum docent discunt," and would be a positive experience for both students. Their knowledge would increase in the subject each respective student is strong in and their competency would increase in the subject that they are weak in by social interaction.

Prior learning