Another influential factor in determining the character of the classroom ethos is the way in which pupils are grouped, both within the classroom and within the school more generally.
Peter Kutnick and his colleagues report on the findings of an extensive research study of the prevalence and impact of different kinds of pupil grouping in primary and secondary classrooms in England. The report indicates that there is no evidence to support the view that any particular grouping strategies lead to significant improvements in attainment. It is then suggested that there is only 'limited evidence that pupils or teachers had received training or support to work effectively within their classroom groups.'
(Kutnick et al., 2006: 7).
http://www.nottingham.ac.uk/~ttzelrn/contexts/unit3/documents/kutnick_et_al.pdf
Interviewing 2 Teachers
I interviewed two teachers with differing approaches to pupil grouping. My questions were base on the findings in Kutnick et al.’s report
Here are the summaries of my findings:
The first teacher I interviewed is an art teacher. She said that she prefers to put the chatty students with the less chatty. She separates the badly behaved students but sometimes has a problem with those pupils shouting to each other across the room which disturbs the whole class. Her classes are mostly projects so the students work individually, but when they are working together she mixes the genders. She groups the pupils according to skill and interests and the groups are usually 4 or 5 students. To cater for children with specific education needs she monitors and pays special attention to those pupils. She finds that grouping the pupils in mixed ability encourages them top teach each other.
I then interviewed a teacher who teaches Business Studies and Maths. She found that the groupings changed in each subject because Business Studies is more discussion orientated. She too puts the students in groups of mixed gender and ability and finds that the pupils will assist struggling students. She give each group a score and reflects on this score every month, then she changes the group accordingly. She lets students choose their own groups.
My Preferred Approach
My own preferred approach to pupil grouping in the classroom is to have students of mixed ability and mixed gender sat together in groups no larger than 4. Although I like to vary the groups. Particularly in ESL where I usually start off as 1 big group, break students into smaller groups and then into pairs – this depends on the activities. I always make sure the groups are mixed by gender and ability by regularly getting pupils to swap with each other. This creates a stimulating environment because when a higher level ability student works with weaker students they can teach and encourage those weaker students although at times the pupils with higher ability might overpower the struggling students, or the weaker students may not contribute as much. Another reason is that some pupils don’t like working together so if groups are consistently changed it is fairer for everyone.
When I teach Global Perspectives I group students with mixed ability and it is hoped that every group will be at the same level of achievement. I separate the students who are badly behaved because when these students are grouped together they can be very disruptive to the class. As there are only 2 girls, I group them together as they give each other support and confidence making a safe learning environment in a male orientated classroom. When it comes to the externally marked projects I will let students choose their own group – this involves them in the decision making, but if a group is formed which I feel could not preform to the best of its ability I will advise the pupils against it.
Our school is too small to have any sets, but if it was big enough I would group pupils in a mixed tutor group which would be together for most subjects. This would create unity and companionship amongst the class. I would then group them in ability, for subjects like Maths, Languages and sciences as I find that pupils with a lower ability can slow down the progress of these particular subjects. A different pace and quantity of material covered is needed for each ability hence the introduction of the ‘extended’ curriculum in Cambridge IGCSE. I would make 3 different sets for ESL – beginner, intermediate and advanced because it is very difficult to prepare a lesson which meets the needs of a number of different students with a variety of English ability levels and it is not as productive or stimulating for the pupils. There would only be 1 set of mixed ability for Global Perspectives.
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