ABSTRACT
The strategies and teaching methods employed in mixed ability teaching must, however, be different from those most used with homogeneous classes. This chapter includes a brief summary of the strategies which effective practitioners think should be used as a bank from which to draw the best combination of techniques. Discovering and trying out the variety of techniques necessitated by mixed ability classes, having to rethink assessment techniques, the freedom to try dormant or new ideas and work as a team, all proved a challenge and a stimulus to many facing mixed ability for the first time. The present state of mixed ability teaching, then, shows in many classrooms a great discrepancy between what is thought to be ideal and what seems to be realistic in the current conditions. In many cases the available teaching strategies are not used effectively, the ends of the ability range do not get a fair deal, and teachers feel frustrated and overburdened.
