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Module 9: Teaching Large or Resource-Limited Classes

Learning Objectives
  • Use peer-assisted and group structures to multiply teacher reach
  • Adapt lessons when materials, textbooks, or technology are limited
  • Prioritize the highest-impact practices when time and resources are constrained

With large classes -- common across much of Africa's public education systems, sometimes exceeding 50 students per teacher -- individual attention to every student is not possible, so the highest-leverage techniques shift toward structures that multiply the teacher's reach: peer tutoring pairs, small fixed groups with a student leader, and choral or paired response so more students answer every question instead of one at a time. When materials are scarce, a chalkboard, a single shared textbook, or even oral recitation and call-and-response can deliver the same core objective as an expensive resource -- the learning objective and the feedback loop matter more than the medium. Teachers in constrained settings get the most value from doubling down on the few highest-impact practices covered earlier in this course: clear objectives, frequent formative checks, and consistent routines, since these cost nothing beyond planning time.

Module Quiz

1. When textbooks or technology are scarce, the most important thing to preserve is:

2. In a very large class, which technique most effectively multiplies a teacher's reach?