Age-Based Grouping Argumentative Analysis

The idea that we should be separating students by their ability level rather than their age is a common one. One opponent of age-based grouping is Ken Robinson, an international advisor on education. Robinson argues in his video lecture “RSA ANIMATE: Changing Education Paradigms” from Oct 2010, that splitting up children by their ages is misguided. Robinson asserts that separating students by their age is like saying that “the most important thing about them is their date of manufacture”(Robinson, 7:04). In other words, Robinson believes that we are treating children more like products than human beings. To be fair to Robinson, while he offers to separate children by ability as one alternative to separating them by age, he offers others as well such as separating

They argue that separating children by ability is difficult for teachers, and lowers standards for students. I don’t disagree entirely with proponents of ability-grouping I understand that students are often stuck in classes that are too difficult or too easy for them. I think that proponents of ability based grouping want to help children succeed and truly believe that age-based grouping hinders achievement. Where I disagree is with the idea that ability-based grouping is the way to do this. I think that we should split up students by age rather than ability because age-grouping promotes equity amongst students, giving every child an equal opportunity at an education. I believe that school isn’t just about an education it’s also about providing an equal opportunity to everyone and lessening the economic and social/racial gaps that exist in our society. I believe that age-based grouping is better than ability-based grouping in promoting equal opportunity. To use one example, in Finland, which is widely regarded as having one of the best school systems in the world, students are divided by age