You should spend about 40 minutes on this task.
Some people think that schools should select students according to their academic abilities, while others believe that it is better to have students with different abilities studying together. Discuss both views and state your own opinion.
You should write at least 250 words.
Model Answer:
Streaming the educational system of sorting students into classes based on their perceived ability level, became a widespread practice among schools in the 20th century since the belief that the creation of intellectual programs skilled jobs. However, currently, there are many opinions that mixed ability classes are more beneficial for children’s development. In this essay, I will discuss both views and state my own opinion.
There are those who are of the opinion that mixed classes provide a better environment for children’s comprehensive development. In these classes, children with different abilities could improve owing to learning from others. For example, a gifted student in art but weak in science could study science easier with the help of his peers, who are good at science, and vice versa. In addition to enhancing children’s all-around development, studying in mixed classes could also encourage social skills between pupils. Children in such classes support and interact through an emphasis on cooperative learning, In this sense, mixed ability classes encourage communication and helping within students.
It has also been claimed that streaming students brings more benefits to the teacher and students. What the opponents of mixed classes contend is that although children might develop comprehensively, it is highly likely that it could lead to waste of talent and time. For instance, smarter students understand lessons quickly and could have more time to learn more difficult objects. However, instead of this, they must wait until teacher explains the lessons more slowly to those who in bottom streams and, consequently, their schedule is slower and no time for extremely objects. Moreover, streaming facilitates effective teaching. This allows teachers to control their students more conveniently and easily. Students are at the same level of academic ability in a class, and in turn, teachers can use the same methodologies for them all.
All in all, it might be true that mixed classes are beneficial for student all-around development. Nevertheless, in my opinion, streaming is better for both students and teachers.