Parents and students, what's your opinion on this?

I've never really heard of such a grouping of students, unless you count remedial and advanced classes. I think this homogeneous grouping is brilliant - it would have been a great help to me in school, since I am a very fast learning. But I could not proceed at a comfortable pace for myself because other kids in my class could not work at that pace. Likewise, there were perfectly intelligent kids who just took longer to grasp things that couldn't keep up, because the type/speed of learning was targeted to the average. It's unfair for all the groups. My daughter just started school, and if they grouped her in a such a way, I would be thrilled - that way she could learn at whatever pace was best for HER, and lessons would be tailored for her speed/style of learning, resulting in a better quality of education.

i feel to be in hetrogenous, as coming up first in homogenous is not a strength for me in future because i miss the sharing with the fast learners/real toppers. So for learning and sharing the things it always better being with mixed students. And then only we can say we are in competitive as the final exams are common to all and scoring is importatnt to us. so for the sake of developing knowledge by sharing to feel real competition to score well in common exams to always feel i have a long road to finish. i prefer heterogeneous.

I think it makes sense to group people with similar learning styles together. When you are in a regular class setting, you might be that one kid who gets everything because you learn through listening, while the classmate next to you learns through hands-on activities. Some people pick up things quicker, but that does not necessary mean that they are smarter (or less intelligent, for that matter). It is sad that a lot of people suffer in school because the class goes at a slow pace for them. That was a problem for me. I could not stand going over the same material multiple times because some of the students didn't understand it, despite the fact that they rarely paid attention. I understand that sometimes it is necessary to go over stuff, regardless of how (fast) you learn. I just don't like that students are missing out because of others. But, that's life. Right? Honestly, they should have a mixture of both As a student, I was placed into regular classes. I pretty much spent my middle and high school years bored as hell with the busy work that they handed out. I am the type of person who wants to learn, do some work, and than move on, rather than spending on the same topic. I was told that I couldn't take high level courses because I might get lost. They told me, "Oh, but you didn't take this honors course last year, so you can't take it this year." It was total BS, for the lack of better words. I was never given a clear reason why. I had the grades and the test scores. That, and I had the motivation. I like a challenge.

As a parent I'm all for seperating the children into learning style groups. I still remember what it was like to sit in class bored out of my mind because I was so far ahead of the other kids. My daughter is the same way. She's in second grade but is learning on a 4th grade level. So for her to sit in a class where they are teaching stuff she already knows, she's going to be bored, which may cause her to be disruptive and I don't want that. On the other side my son who is 5 is a slower learner, he takes his time learning things and needs to be told a few times and maybe even shown how to do it. So I'd rather him be in a class where the teachers can take that time and help him so he doesn't get fustrated and give up. I think when you throw everyone into one group some get left behind and some just don't even bother because it's either to easy or to hard for them and I think that's a great injustice to the child. So seperating them into learning style groups will help them better achive their learning goals and get the full advantage of their school and educational experince.

I've studied in one school my whole life except for nursery and pseudokindergarten (where I wasted my entire year because I learned nothing...you bring it back you worthless school!!! ). In that one school, there were no star sections. We had mixed classes. I think it was okay. But at some point in college, I took a course that was newly approved in the college. That meant new professors to the school. So they did that sectioning. What was bad about it is that there were only few students making up only 2 sections. I felt okay being on the better section, but it must have been a bummer for the students in the other section. There was no discrimination among students. Would you believe there was sort of a discrimination from the teachers? That's sad. I'm no longer a student and not yet a parent but if I'll have children of my own, I would prefer entering them in a school without sectioning like that. I understand that the teachers would like to know the student's abilities so they can teach them appropriately but the discrimination is not helping. I don't think that type of sectioning helped our college either. That's only my opinion though. Have a nice day!

i should prefer heterogeneous sectioning,fast learner can help the slow learner in their lessons and slow learner can be challenge to learn more and study harder

When I was in school sectioning was done according to how you do in the entrance exams. A,B,C sections and A supposedly had the brightest students. Then they changed it to make the classes more heterogeneous as far as intelligence were concerned. I do not know how it turned out.

The straight and simple of it is that all children need to be mixed together in a classroom setting. A child may seem slow in some areas, but all it takes is that child to be around others and things just seem to kick in for them. Where's the spirit of learning together or competition if everyone is on the same page? I mean if you want to keep the children moving along and not really get to explore their world and the world of others, what's the sense of grading them? They would all get the same grade, wouldn't they? DCMerkle

I was educated in homogeneous way and I believe it is more effective. It is hard for a slow learner to cope if he is mixed with bright fast learners. If students are segregated that way... then teachers can adjust accordingly to teach in accordance with how the students could cope. But perhaps there could be some case that if slow learners are mixed with the fast learners it could positively lead to their being a fast learners as well.

As a parent I would neither like these both sectioning system. I would like the fast learners should be distributed in all the slow learning sections equally so that the slow learners are able compete with them and I hope ultimately there is impact of this on each student.

In my entire school life the section has always been heterogeneous. I have always preferred this type because it promotes healthier interaction between students and also it develops social skills in my opinion better than in a homogeneous section. For me it is better that students help each other out rather than categorizing them so that they would really learn more.

I belonged to the top section during my times and it was fair because all the students were really deserving to that sections.But during my daughter's time, there were students that were not capable of being on the top sections but were there because the parents were a teachers or related to the teachers or school.So its unfair to the other students.Of course i would want my daughter to belong to the top section because she will be challenge and would study harder but because of the unfair doing of the school, my daughter feel discouraged about it and though she was qualified to be on the top she decided not to belong there.

I as a parent would select homogeneous sectioning. Every person has strong and weak areas of learning. With this, a student would excel in the areas they are strong in without falling behind in the weak areas. As a student I was placed this way in my classes. It worked very well for me.

well thats a very difficult situation you have mentioned here!!! both the options are healthy in my eyes!!! i cannot find a fault in either ones!! being a parent i would like to put my child in heterogeneous section!! coz i want my child to be treated equally like all the other fast learner!!! and being among the fast learner ,who knows one day he might be a fast learner too!! being a student .. i would choose to be in a homogeneous section.. wherein i could be around the kids who are like me.. i wouldn have to feel sorry for being a slow learner coz i would be satisfied that there are many kids like me!!

I am not a parent yet but when I was in school no such teaching method like homogeneous or heterogeneous sectioning was in practise. I thought a little about this way of giving education, its a superb idea but don't you think it"ll create a little sense of inferiority and superiority complexes within and between fellow students because you know everyone is not fast learners. Only a few are, some are average and remaining are slow learners. The teacher will also prefer to teach student who are fast learners because teachers won't have to work hard and life will become easy for them.

I do not see a healthy environment in separation. The smart kids alone then they become bullies and the other students feel inferior. All are human beings and that way they should be treated. Inferior students grow and become bad adults with low self esteem. I vote all students of all types together.

I prefer that heterogenous sectioning for more personal controls since I am no fast learner nor a slow learner, it's just that teachers should have a flexible method other than the classical method of teaching because there is a thing which we call as right and left brain learner which is I think more vital than utilizing the term homogenous or heterogenous sectioning. From your homogenous section point of view, this is done not in favor of students but rather more in favor of the teacher because the teacher won't be too concerned of who is catching up with his style or not. Yet competition could be healthy also and tension is high if students are highly participative. There is a tendency of more debates also in the setting. While in that heterogenous, this may not be possible since the fast learner may have to slow down and be in congruent with the others who can't catch up. Advantage? Maybe for the latter but it can also be a detriment to the advancement of the first. Secondly, slow learners may not be slow as we think they are. Motivation comes in different sources, they could use the whole idea as an advantage for them to outwit the known fast learners. If I am a parent, I won't be too concerned on which section my child will be in to. I would be more concerned on the quality of teaching he receives and how he digest or process the lessons. Do they have a fair grading system and curriculum? I would love my kid to fail and succeed in class also; be on his own.

I had the same class arrangement in my time. I am proud to say that I always made it to the honors class. So did my sister and brothers. But I do not agree with the arrangement. It puts stigma to the students whom to look up to and whom to look down to. I am glad my children doesnt have this arrangement anymore. When I studied to be a teacher at the University of the Philippines, we were taught how to arrange the classroom. Since I majored in Teaching Early Grades,thats K-2, children had seating arrangement such as all the slow performers in front rows or tables. We shifted the arrangements every now and then so the students wont notice that a grouping exist. sometimes we put them together as to give the fast learners the chance to aid the slow performers without them noticing. The only thing is, kids are really smart...they just add two and two and they know whats going on.

when i was a student i was also in a heterogeneous section. actually it really doesnt matter to me at all. i go to school to learn and not to mind the sectioning. well, it depends from indivuals:) happy mylotting:)

tnx a lot for this discussion...it helps a lot for our thesis... thank u!!!!