Multi-Grade Teaching: Experiences of Teachers and Preservice Teachers in Turkey

This case study compared preservice primary school teachers' and primary school teachers' experiences with multi-grade teaching in the 2018--2019 academic year. The sample consisted of 17 fourth-year students in the department of primary school teaching education of a public university and 14 multigrade teachers from 12 schools in Turkey. The preservice teachers and multi-grade primary school teachers developed similar lesson plans and executed similar learning processes. Although the multigrade teachers claimed that they used different methods (brainstorming, drama, observation, etc.), the preservice teachers observed them mostly use Q&A and direct instruction techniques. The preservice teachers did not use multidisciplinary teaching activities but instead showed students videos and slides and designed textbook-based activities. They did not use different methods to plan a multi-grade lecture. Multi-grade teaching training offered by the faculties of education should be interdisciplinary and encourage collaboration among teachers from other branches (e.g., teacher agency). [Paper presented at the European Conference on Educational Research (Online, Sep 6-9, 2021).]