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| Children come in all types |
Nino, a primary teacher, is describing some of his pupils:
Mario can't sit still or concentrate. He enjoys action games.
Lucia is very quiet - does not say much. But she listens carefully and her written work is always good.
Emanuela has moods. Some days she takes part in everything. Other days she just sits silently and stares.
Carlo is very quick to answer and to finish his work
Nino is describing differences among four of his pupils. Think how many more differences there would be if we were thinking of a class of 30 children. Some teachers say that they find teaching classes of mixed ability one of their main problems. But maybe the problem is in thinking of mixed ability classes as a problem rather than as something natural m any group of individuals.
Mario Rinvolucri says
...we do not teach a group but thirty separate people. Because of this, the problem of mixed abilities in the same room seems absolutely natural and it is the idea of teaching a unitary lesson that seems odd.