One of the things I really enjoy in my teaching life is the opportunity to teach students more than once during their high school careers. I used to teach both English and drama, and sometimes I had students who I taught in both classes for two years straight! One thing I love about this is the opportunity to see students grow. We are so used to the model of teaching a student in one subject area for one year, and then passing them off to the next year. I think there is value in teaching a student over multiple years, if possible.
When I was a child, I lived in Ireland and went to a school that had two classrooms. In each of those classrooms there were four year levels. The downstairs classroom had junior infants, senior infants, first class, and second class. Going to the upstairs classroom meant you were in third, fourth, fifth, or sixth class. Looking back, it seems intense. Those poor teachers must have felt pulled in so many directions and they had to have been dynamic classroom managers with such a variety of ages to contend with.
Perhaps it wasn’t so bad though. Maybe those teachers only found that their classroom presence was strengthened through developing parent and student relationships over several years. Perhaps students felt a stronger sense of trust in their teacher and more comfortable taking risks and asking questions. Maybe it helped build a sense of community.
This summer, when I was visiting my old seaside town in Ireland, I went down the tiny lane where my school is found and gazed up at the old building. I have very happy memories there. Last night at parent teacher meetings, I had the delight of reconnecting with the parents of students I also had last year and being able to discuss the student together with both years in mind.
Is there value in intentionally placing students with the same teacher for multiple years of high school? What are the pros and cons?