This book draws on new research exploring the practical experiences of schools and teachers who have used different kinds of grouping. Setting out the issues and discussing the strengths and weaknesses of different types of grouping, this book will help teachers decide which methods are most appropriate for their pupils. The authors offer step-by-step guidance to all aspects of grouping, including setting; streaming; within-class ability grouping; within-class mixed ability grouping; cross-age grouping; assessing and monitoring group placement; and how to implement different types of grouping. The book also discusses children's perceptions of the purposes of groups; moving between groups; and how to liaise with parents about their child moving groups. The book will be welcomed by trainees and teachers alike.
This book offers a challenge to traditional approaches to classroom teaching and pedagogy. The SPRinG (Social Pedagogic Research into Groupwork) project, part of a larger research programme on teaching and learning funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC), was developed to enhance the learning potential of pupils working in classroom groups by actively involving teachers in a programme designed to raise levels of group work during typical classroom learning activities. Internationally, the SPRinG project is the largest evaluation of effective group working methods in comparison to traditional teaching, with findings that show raised levels of pupil achievement and a doubling of sustained, active engagement in learning. The opening chapters present arguments regarding the relationship of social interaction and children’s cognitive development and examine theories that explain why social interactional processes should be integrated into primary school pedagogic practices. Next, the book describes the conceptual and methodological basis for the SPRinG studies, especially its focus on the relational approach, the type of involvement of teachers and classroom planning. Further chapters present key results and describe the background and methods used to establish SPRinG-based effects on pupil progress in mathematics, literacy and science, including both macro and micro assessments; how the SPRinG approach affected pupil-pupil interactions and teacher-pupil interactions, as measured by systematic on-the-spot observations and analyses of videotapes of groups working on specially designed tasks work; and effects on pupil self-completed measures of motivation and attitudes to group work. The book also analyses reflections of teachers who have worked with SPRinG: moving from theory to practice as well as adding insights associated with implementing SPRinG principles in schools. Drawing upon developmental psychological, social psychological and classroom research, it develops a new and ambitious social pedagogic approach to classroom learning, with a stress on group work, which will be of interest to researchers, teachers and policy-makers. This book includes contributions from Andrew Tolmie and Ed Baines, who were also involved in the ScotSPRinG and SPRinG projects.
This book draws on new research exploring the practical experiences of schools and teachers who have used different kinds of grouping. Setting out the issues and discussing the strengths and weaknesses of different types of grouping, this book will help teachers decide which methods are most appropriate for their pupils. The authors offer step-by-step guidance to all aspects of grouping, including setting; streaming; within-class ability grouping; within-class mixed ability grouping; cross-age grouping; assessing and monitoring group placement; and how to implement different types of grouping. The book also discusses children's perceptions of the purposes of groups; moving between groups; and how to liaise with parents about their child moving groups. The book will be welcomed by trainees and teachers alike.
Promoting Effective Group Work in the Primary Classroom, 2nd ed. is designed to enhance teachers’ and teaching assistants’ confidence in engaging their children in effective group work, allowing for more active participation, more on-task focus and higher levels of achievement. This accessible second edition is packed full of valuable strategies for teachers and fun activities for children, offering guidance on how to create an inclusive and supportive classroom by developing the social, communicative and group working skills of all pupils. It has been thoroughly updated and includes new material on whole school approaches to group work, the risks and challenges involved, and how to involve Teaching Assistants and other support staff in undertaking inclusive and effective group work in classrooms. A tried-and-tested, step-by-step approach encourages both children and their teachers to develop supportive relationships that have been found to facilitate academic performance, positive social behaviour and motivation. Since the first edition the authors have found that this handbook can be used successfully in many different countries around the world. With ideas to help resolve problems that might arise and suggested training activities to support pupils, this text is a one-stop resource to ensure effective group work in the classroom. It is an essential guide for both trainee and practising teachers, as well as TAs and support staff, and a valuable basis for school action.
How should classrooms be formed in a school? What criteria should be used for dividing students up between schools and classes? When is tracking/streaming and ability grouping appropriate in a school system? the author reviews the research of the past decade in order to evaluate the impact of class composition on students' learning. The question of equality of opportunity is also addressed. Although it is one of the fundamental principles of every educational project in the democratic countries, what are the real learning opportunities offered to students? Among the factors that make these opportunities differ between schools, or even between classes, researchers have long studied the question of the influence that each pupil or student has on his or her classmates - the so-called ’peer effect'. Going beyond peer effect within classes, this book also considers the subtle and sometimes unintentional process of adapting the teaching level according To The level of the school, which can lead to inequalities. Beyond a review of the research carried out on these issues, The author tackles related issues of administration and education policy.
The use of ability-grouping is currently increasing in primary schools. Teachers and teacher educators are placed in the unenviable position of having to marry research evidence suggesting that ability-grouping is ineffectual with current policy advocating this approach.This book links theory, policy and practice in a critical examination of ability-grouping practices and their implications in primary schools, with particular reference to primary mathematics. It provides an accessible text for teacher educators to support their students in engaging with the key debates and reflecting upon their practice. Key changes in structural approaches, such as the movement between streaming, setting or mixed-ability teaching arrangements, are explored in the light of political trends, bringing this up to date with a discussion of current policy and practice.
Ability Grouping in Education provides an overview of ability grouping in education. The authors consider selective schooling and ability grouping within schools, such as streaming, banding setting and within-class grouping.
Drawing on the work of Vygotsky, the authors look at the social and emotional advantages children can gain from working together. They use case studies derived from the ORACLE II group work project at Leicester, and also take into account the advances made in collaborative group work in other countries. The result is a set of guidelines from which teachers can plan policies suitable for their own schools.
In recent years primary education has been the subject of continuing debate with questions of standards and their apparent decline being raised with alarming regularity. Central in informing these debates has been the ORACLE study of groupwork in primary classrooms. Published during the 1980s, the study described in detail the daily life of the primary classroom, the teaching styles used by teachers and the responses of pupils. That research has now been replicated - with over two thirds of the schools originally studied being revisited, using the same tests and observation instruments. This book presents the findings of this second round of research, and is therefore unique in being able authoritatively to document the changes - or lack of them - in primary education and teaching practice over the last twenty years.
Since the publication of the first edition, Organising Learning in the Primary School Classroom has been recognised as an indispensable guide for primary school teachers in their quest for more effective practice in the classroom. It gives help on everyday problems of classroom organisation: how to group children, how to set out a classroom physically, how to make the most efficient use of time and resources. Now in its 4th edition, the book retains these strengths but has been brought right up to date with the many changes that are taking place nationally and globally. The book begins with a survey of these recent changes and goes on to consider their implications for teachers if today's schools are to prepare children for what is, to some extent, an unknown future. In addition to chapters on classroom organisation, the book includes chapters on: child development creativity PSHE and citizenship teaching language and literacy, ICT, mathematics and science the foundation subjects working with parents working effectively with Teaching Assistants evaluating and assessing learning teaching children with special educational needs or exceptional ability. Throughout, the aim is to get teachers and student teachers to analyse their own classrooms and to produce solutions that will work for them. This book will be invaluable not only to newly qualified teachers, but also to experienced practitioners wishing to review their work.
