Factors Influencing Bhutanese Teachers' Multigrade Knowledge and Teaching Practices

Abstract

Multigrade teaching in rural and remote areas is a key strategy for Bhutan to achieve Education For All. This study investigated the factors influencing Bhutanese teachers' understanding of multigrade schooling as well as their reported multigrade practices in their classrooms. The sample of 201 teachers from a total of 253 in 20 regions responded to survey questionnaires about multigrade concept and practice. The results from descriptive statistics, t-tests and ANOVA highlight the link between individual realities and local contextual variables on understanding and employing multigrade practices. This study found a discrepancy between multigrade teachers' conception and practice of multigrade teaching. There also appears to be a mismatch between teacher education and the real demands on teachers in multigrade situations. However, it is clear that training bears some relation with understanding multigrade and employing multigrade practices, and that effective multigrade practices also hinge on other factors, such as the relation between teacher education and the real demands on teachers in multigrade situations, to which attention need to be given by authorities.