What is a loop in teaching? Or should it be asked, what is teaching in a loop? For those of you not familiar with the term, it's teaching the same class of students for more than one year. If loop isn't ringing any bells, you may know it as continuous learning, multiyear placement, or family-style learning. But regardless of which name you're familiar with, schools that are adopting the concept (or re-adopting, we should say), are giving it great feedback—both from a teacher's perspective and the students.
In today's education world, proponents say it has a solid place as it's known to strengthen student-teacher bonds, improve test scores, expand time for instruction, increase parent participation, and reduce behavioral problems and placements in special education programs.
One way of looking at it, as Jim Grant, an advocate of continuous learning says, is "We don't change dentists, doctors, or our mechanics every 36 weeks, so it makes no sense to change our teachers."
If you're familiar with Waldorf Schools, then you already know looping is one of their characteristics—teachers stay with the same group of students from grades 1-8. And you may also know, Waldorf Schools are one of America's fastest growing private schools. The Waldorf concept is also used in Germany, Israel, Italy, and Japan.
Some of the intriguing values for parents, are the options available in such programs. Some schools experimenting with looping concepts are offering choices—looping classrooms, traditional classrooms, or looping with multigrade integration. Besides providing these options, looping is also known to build stronger parent-teacher relationships, which can also create more parent interaction with the school.
For teachers, looping is a way of challenging their professional development. Many who have experienced it, say they've loved this approach. Advocates say the first day of school is actually like the 181st day—it's like greeting a room full of old friends—they can just pick up where they left off.
For students who are struggling, looping teachers can allow extra time for them to grow, knowing they'll be with them again the following year. For younger students, this helps establish trust and stronger bonds, and motivates them to take educational challenges. They are more apt to take a risk, make a mistake, and not feel ashamed because they feel secure with both their teacher and their classmates.
