Some people believe that schools should group their pupils according to academic ability.Others believe students should be grouped together regardless of academic ability. Write an essay supporting one side of this debate.

Manpreet Singh

8 years ago

Some people believe that schools should group their pupils according to academic ability.Others believe students should be grouped together regardless of academic ability. Write an essay supporting one side of this debate.

The classmates a student interacts with on a day-to-day basis make up an important
part of their academic experience. Many believe that a pupil’s learning is enhanced
when students of varying academic skill surround them. However, it is argued that a
student benefits most through regular interaction with students of similar intellectual
potential. This will be shown by looking at how such an arrangement both poses
healthy challenges to students and refrains from holding students back in their
academic pursuits.
Firstly, by grouping students based intellectual strength, a classroom can provide an
environment that engages young people at a level equal to their ability. Take
language learning as an example. If a highly skilled language student is placed in the
same classroom as a beginner, the class atmosphere is beneficial to neither. Further,
it would be impossible for the teacher of this class to provide challenging material
that caters to both student levels. Thus, the merits of classroom groupings based on
skill level can be seen.
Secondly, intellectually superior students placed with less capable students may be
held back in their studies. For example, Canadian public school systems do not
categorize students based on their strengths, instead favouring to amalgamate all
pupils into one collective class. Under such an arrangement it unfortunately
becomes all too common for gifted students to be held back in their studies as their
classmates struggle to understand basic concepts. As this example shows, arranging
students by intelligence should be supported.
Following this look at class structure, it is felt education systems that discriminate
between strong and weak students are beneficial to pupils as a whole. It is hoped
these sorts of classroom arrangements return to popularity in the years to come.

Some people believe that schools should group their pupils according to academic ability.Others believe students should be grouped together regardless of academic ability. Write an essay supporting one side of this debate.