How Do We Handle All the Children? Understanding Pedagogies for Overcrowded Classrooms in Malawi

Group Submission Type: Formal Panel Session

Proposal

Access to a free and compulsory primary school education has been a shared global commitment since the inception of the 1948 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations General Assembly, 1948). Promoting access to free primary education (FPE) was reiterated again in the Dakar Framework for Action (UNESCO, 2000), and most recently, the Sustainable Development Agenda (United Nations, 2015) has continued the cause. Increased admission and enrollment of children has proven to be overwhelming in many countries, causing an “access shock” to the education systems (Avenstrup, et al. 2004). Increased enrollment compounded by the rapid population growth in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) has required teachers to face educating an exploding population of children entering the same number of classrooms (Benbow et al., 2007). For example, enrollments in Malawi jumped by 68 percent in the first year FPE was introduced, increasing challenges to weak education systems already experiencing overcrowded classrooms with very few resources (Avenstrup, et al. 2004).

As access has been expanded, Ministries of Education have been trying to address the concurrent challenge of quality, which critics have alleged has been greatly compromised (Kadzamire & Rose, 2003). Teaching large classes requires a considerable amount of planning, support, and expertise (Jawitz, 2013) that many teachers in LMICs have not yet developed (e.g., Mizrachi et al., 2010). Successful instructional strategies for large classes are inadequately investigated and discussed in the literature, especially in countries outside the wealthy or in the Northern Hemisphere. Pasigna (1997) identified classroom management and strategic grouping as effective pedagogies for teaching large classes. Bain (1989) analyzed successful teachers of large primary school classes in the United States and found a core of common features: high expectations, clear and focused instruction, use of differentiated instruction, use of incentives and rewards to promote learning, highly routinized classroom procedures, high standards for behavior, and the importance of maintaining excellent personal interactions with students. However, a paucity of empirical research is available to provide evidence that these methods are actually effective in large classrooms (e.g., Benbow et al., 2007). A review of the literature revealed limited empirical research focused on primary teachers in LMICs, and none of the available findings were based on classroom interventions. Research with underserved populations in LMICs tends to address the issue of access rather than whether evidence-based pedagogy is used to improve the quality of education (Chesterfield, 1997; UNESCO, 2015).

In Malawi alone, the child population is predicted to double from 9 million to 18 million by 2030, increasing the pressure on an already stressed education system (UNICEF, 2017). Although the Ministry of Education (MoE) provides government-paid teachers, insufficient teacher deployment results in very large class sizes – up to 414 – with a mean class size across the country of 120 (Ministry of Education, 2020)! These classrooms are loud and at times not well-managed, drastically inhibiting optimal learning. The physical environment is crucial to effective and efficient learning (Naude & Meier, 2019). In large classes, primary school learners may have difficulty hearing the teacher (Adamu et al., 2022) and can experience cognitive overload, resulting in impaired cognitive processing and learning (Scarlett, 2015). The high repetition rate (15% for boys and 24% for girls in the 2021/2022 school year) and the low primary school enrollment rate at grade 8 (36% for boys and 41% for girls) is alarming (Ministry of Education, 2022). Malawian students’ learning results are some of the lowest in the region. The 2021 National Reading Assessment revealed that only 4% of grade 2 and 11% of grade 4 children exhibited proficient oral reading fluency in Chichewa (Abt Associates, Inc., 2021). Grade 4 children exhibited only emergent level numeracy skills in the 2016 assessment (Brombacker, 2019). Exponential population growth and free primary education initiatives portend that the size of classes in sub-Saharan Africa will not be reduced in the foreseeable future. Increased school enrollment will continue to exacerbate poor student performance unless teachers learn effective pedagogies for managing and teaching large classes (Bashir et al., 2018). Therefore, the crux of research needs to be on how teachers can best provide effective instruction to large numbers of children. It is imperative that research intentionally involves the active participation of teachers who understand the demands of low-resourced, overcrowded classrooms and can support the exploration of strategies that make teaching in large classrooms in LMICs more effective (Reason & Bradbury, 2001), ensuring equity for those children experiencing the most severe learning poverty.

In this panel, our team presents findings from administrators and educators in overcrowded classrooms across Malawi. Our approach began with reviewing all available literature on large class pedagogy in primary and secondary contexts from the past 25 years. We seated our empirical research within the Teaching Through Interactions Framework in order to evaluate the aspects of emotional support, classroom organization, and instruction support exhibited by teachers. We then moved into exploratory research in Malawian Teaching Practice Schools to better understand how mentor teachers are training pre-service student teachers to handle large classes (more than 80 children). Finally, we targeted teachers in overcrowded classes whose students outperformed their peers on the 2024 Malawi National Reading Assessment (funded by USAID Malawi and the Ministry of Education). The session will conclude with a discussion of key take-aways, policy implications, and future directions for research.

Sub Unit

• Teacher Education and the Teaching Profession SIG

Chair

• JAI BUM KOO, Florida State University

Individual Presentations

• Effective Practices/Strategies for Teaching Large Classes – What Have We Learned in 25 Years of Research? - Adrienne Barnes-Story, Learning Systems Institute at Florida State University; Jennie Robinette, Florida State University, Learning Systems Institute; Brenda Aromu Wawire, Florida State University, Learning Systems Institute; Bubire Jere, University of Malawi

• Teaching Through Interactions Framework and Analytic Methods for Capturing Large Class Pedagogical Approaches - Brenda Aromu Wawire, Florida State University, Learning Systems Institute; Adrienne Barnes-Story, Learning Systems Institute at Florida State University; Jennie Robinette, Florida State University, Learning Systems Institute

• Quantifying Large Class Pedagogy through Video Recordings - Jennie Robinette, Florida State University, Learning Systems Institute; Brenda Aromu Wawire, Florida State University, Learning Systems Institute; JAI BUM KOO, Florida State University; Amogh Basavaraj, Florida State University; Adrienne Barnes-Story, Learning Systems Institute at Florida State University

Discussant

• Brenda Aromu Wawire, Florida State University, Learning Systems Institute