How Important is Class Size?

If you live anywhere West of the Rockies, here in good 'ol Canada, or if you watch the CBC News nightly, you may be abreast of what's going on with the BC Teacher's Federation has been shaking things up. They haven't distributed reported cards since the beginning of this year, they've went on strike the week before Spring Break and they're threatening more job action in the very near future. The current Conservative Government hasn't been very generous to the public sector since being elected into power. I use the term elected loosely since the Canadian turnout during election time was both pitiful and embarrassing. But nonetheless, here we are, an overtly Conservative government, and once again, for the umpteenth in the last decade, BC teachers, are among some of the lowest paid in the country, yet have to grapple with the highest cost of living in the country. But there it's not just a lack of funds that has teacher's screaming foul.

Classrooms around the province have been slowly increasing in size, with little or no recourse. Some experts have reported that the ideal number of students in a class is 15. If that was true, teaching jobs would be snapped up left, right and centre! But the truth is, the average class size in BC is 35. When you compare that with the population of an average lecture hall during a first year course, at a top notch university like UBC, you'd be looking at a class size of about 300-400. So, what's the big deal with a class size of 35?

Well, what many of you may not realize, is that of those 35 students, 4-5 of them could have special needs that require a great deal more attention than the average student. And with Special Education Assistants lacking, due to a substantial lack of Government funding, regular teachers are having to grapple with new challenges that they've not been trained to deal with, whilst trying to teach students who don't suffer from any number of learning disabilities.

The other issue with burgeoning class sizes is the inability for a teacher to properly address a disparity in learning abilities. Every classroom has those students that excel, and those that barely scrape by. The larger the class size, the less attention given to the students that need it most. Students who excel get bored and those who are failing, just, well, fail. Running a classroom is a delicate balancing act for the most accomplished teacher, and forcing them to take on more students, without providing them with the necessary financial support and resources just isn't fair.