Teach Kids Instead of Subjects

Home

Chat

Blogs

Collection

Directory

Home : 2008 : April : 22

Teach Kids Instead of Subjects
By biyubelle

Oh Funnygirl! How well said. That is the major difference between elementary and secondary people. Since I am in a K-12 school I can observe the phenomenon first hand. (You do know I'm going to get some really irate responses
from secondary people, don't you?) When we have joint faculty meetings, you can really see the philosophical differences.

Below is info taken from a masters thesis on primary departmentalization:

Although the innovation of departmentalization has obvious advantages, there are disadvantages as well. One disadvantage is the risk that many students may not

encounter a climate of caring and support. Positive teacher-student relations are made more difficult by departmentalization. When teachers see several classes of students each day, they may not be
able to get to know the needs of individual students. It is also difficult to give them the individual attention they may need. It becomes similar to an assembly line, depersonalizing the time spent
with students (Canady & Retting, 1995). Another disadvantage of departmentalization is when students change teachers several times a day, they may not relate to any of their teachers as well as they would when they have one teacher. The little research that does exist on departmentalization suggests that this type of program has negative effects for elementary children (Grouping students for instruction). Several studies have found elementary students in
departmentalized classrooms show lower levels of achievement than children in self-contained classes.
M. Dropsey
November 29, 2004

This may help. I would do some serious research and share it with your principal before a final decision is made.

We had departmentalized as far down as third. It was a disaster. (Not enough communication between teachers equaled really unreasonable amounts of home, conflicting test schedules, lost supplies, textbooks, kids:)) Now we start at 5th with departmentalization. Parents, kids, and teachers are much happier.