Benefits of 25 students per class in IB PYP

Teachers from around the world, especially in international schools with international programs, like International Baccalaureate (IB), have about 25 students per classroom up to Grade 5. There is overwhelming evidence that following benefits exist:

1. Individual attention: Teachers can spend more time with each child. Teachers can focus on the growth and development of each child individually.
2. Individualized teaching plans: Teachers can create individualized classroom learning experiences, assessment and feedback for student improvement. Each child is different and has his own strengths and weaknesses.
3. Richer learning: Teachers can plan for a richer and more meaningful curriculum that is connected to the real world.
4. Applied learning: Have more time for enrichment activities and real life application of classroom learning.
5. Better organized: Teachers are able to better manage teaching aids, digital technology, paperwork, checking work, and are more organized in a smaller group of children. They have more time for engaging learning activities.
6. Student participation: The teacher is able to engage ALL students in authentic learning experiences. Unlike larger classrooms, a child is not lost in the crowd.
7. All-round development: Teachers have time to plan and develop other aspects of each child – knowledge, skills, attitudes – leading to transformation of personality.
8. Meaningful assessment: Assessment is more meaningful and is not just limited to traditional paper and pencil tests, which mostly tests memory. Teachers have opportunities for far better forms of assessment which assess all aspects of a child’s growth.
9. Child centered classroom: The focus of the classroom is the child and not the teacher. Students have opportunities for being empowered for their own learning and having a sense of achievement.
10. Group learning: Students learn in smaller groups with more intense intellectual and social learning experiences.