[Review]Routledge Library Editions: Philosophy of Education (2)

The ‘Mixed Ability group’ focuses on discovering each student’s individuality, uniqueness, and potential.

Of course, ‘potential’ must take into account an individual’s genetic limitations. However, in this ‘mixed ability grouping’, it can be maximized through equalization of environmental factors. And above all, the role of the teacher is important, and the role of the teacher in this grouping must take into account the principle of ‘equality’. This is because it cannot be concluded that students with low immediate achievement levels do not have potential.(Ibid., 9)

This means the ‘principle of equality’ or ‘egalitarianism’ also means ‘equality of opportunity.’ Just because a country in the Western world has a Christian worldview, it obviously has no right to refuse entry to immigrants from the Islamic world or Eastern third countries.

The Rationale

“In this chapter we shall be concerned to articulate and comment on what we see as the central arguments used by teachers and others in education in defence of mixed ability grouping.

We recognise that this account must rest in part on empirical studies of what teachers actually say about their reasons, and to this end we shall be drawing on published surveys and case studies. But we shall at the same time try to give fuller articulation to arguments which receive somewhat fragmentary expression in the literature and, in conclusion, to comment on some of their implications and internal contradictions. We shall set out in the following four sections four arguments or sets of arguments which seem to us to have some rather distinctive features.”(Ibid., 11)

‘Mixed ability grouping’ is an educational method that maximizes each student’s potential. This chapter deals with education that gives students make better choices. In this context, the principle of equality is applied to ensure what is considered fair or equitable competition for these social goods, with 'fairness' or 'justice' consisting in ensuring that competitors start at some stage of what appears to be equal. Approaching diversity is an essential discourse in the 21st century. Being born as an American is not natural, and being born as a Korean is also not natural. In this respect, ‘mixed ability grouping’ can be seen as having the same starting line in the competition between individuals and students.