[etni] Streaming vs. Heterogenous Debate

If I may put in my two shekels worth, my experience with the issue of 
heterogenous vs. streaming classes comes down to what the school/teacher
/principal is hoping for. 
In Japan, where I teach, at all levels (elementary to high school and 
sometimes even in university), it is almost exclusively heterogenous 
(recently there have been a few halting steps toward "streaming" classes, 
remedial instruction, and the like but it is largely frowned on by 
educators and parents alike).
 The reason for this in Japan is that most teachers as well as the 
education ministry hope for all students to make "similar" progress. 
That is to say, no one too far behind, no one too far ahead. Everyone is 
urged to reach a "middle ground", slower students being forced into 
after school tutorial academies and advanced students being urged to 
study more on their own, not in school. As long as everyone is pretty 
much "average", teachers, parents, and the education ministers are 
satisfied. English ability is low, on average, but that is not the real 
goal anwyay.
 If the goal is successful students able to use English on a global 
scale, streaming, I feel, is absolutely necessary. If the goal is 
keeping everybody near the same average level, heterogenous classes may 
be preferable. If the goals are clear, the process should be, too.
 
 Geoff Dean
 Alex English School
 Tokyo, Japan
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