This is a picture of my Intro to Biology classroom. There are 46 seats in the classroom and all but four are used. Is having 42 students in one class with one teacher an example of injustice?
Heck yeah, this is an example of injustice. Can you imagine being a teacher with 42 kids in one period? These days, this is the norm, not the anomaly. Since the economy has tanked and education budgets have been slashed, teachers have been let go, resulting in less teachers and larger class sizes. A larger class size means less time for the teacher to help students one-on-one to comprehend difficult concepts. Students may become frustrated and have less enthusiasm for school work which can lead to academic failure. This translates to negative effects that can last a lifetime.
42 students and only 1 teacher is definitely a form of injustice for both the teacher and the students. It is a lot of work and pressure for the teacher, while students can't get the individualized help they need. One on One instruction is vital in my opinion as some students fall behind when being a big class like that. Giving some students extra attention is almost impossible with the amount of time given to teach 42 students! It is just not balanced!
ReplyDeleteThis is not only happening in the science classrooms. Students are maxed out in their Math classrooms as well. No wonder students are lacking motivation in such a class setting. If the school is not taking the students' development seriously. Why would students take their educational development seriously?
ReplyDeleteThis is crazy! I am also teaching in the science field and in one class I have 42 students, 18 of which are ELL students. Not only do I have 18 ELL students in this class, but there are also 8 SPED students. It is crazy to think that one teacher will be able to meet each and every students' needs in this class. I don't have to wonder why our educational system is declining. If the government doesn't think it is important to fund education, the picture above is going to be the future norm.
ReplyDeleteI am also in a class where the populations hovers just under 40. I think that large class sizes are felt especially harshly in the English classroom. Fortunately, class size is an injustice that can be worked with even while we work to solve it.
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