Abstract
The opening chapters presented arguments regarding the relationship of social interaction and children’s cognitive development and undertook an assessment of the theories that explain why social interactional processes should be integrated into primary school pedagogic practices. At the same time, both experimental and naturalistic studies of social interaction (in classrooms) have had limited effects on the development of school children in their classrooms. Chapter 3 now describes the conceptual and methodological basis for the SPRinG (Social Pedagogic Research into Group work) studies, the results of which are presented in Chap. 4 through 7. The chapter describes the distinctive approach of the SPRinG programme and how it differs from previous studies. It shows that the main aims of the programme of research were to first develop with teachers a programme of group work, and then evaluate the programme over a full school year in a rigorous fashion. At the heart of the SPRinG approach are four principles: (1) Preparation of the classroom context for group work (with attention to class seating arrangements, group size, number of groups, group stability, and group composition); (2) Preparation of lessons and activities involving group work: curriculum and group work activities; (3) A relational approach to facilitate group working; and, (4) Involvement of teachers in the support of group work. We then describe how our study into group work within classrooms was designed and identify the samples of schools and pupils and methods of data collection relating to pupil attainment, observation measures of interactions and behaviour, and measures of pupil attitudes and motivation. The chapter also introduces: (a) the Scottish extension study which explored differences in classroom performance attributable to location of the school (urban or rural) or whether children are in a mixed-age or same-age class (in Chap. 6); and (b) and the study of teachers’ perceptions of group work from a distinct qualitative perspective (Chap. 7).
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Notes
- 1.
The ESRC is the government-based organization responsible for competitive funding of high quality research in the social sciences and one of the few funding organizations that support research in the field of education.
- 2.
The possible Hawthorne effect is more fully considered and discussed in Chap. 8.
- 3.
Setting, also known as tracking in the United States and elsewhere, re-arranges all classes within a specific Year level and in relation to a specific subject (for example, mathematics) by the attainment level of children. In UK primary schools, children may spend most of their learning time in a mixed-attainment class for most of their subjects, but it is likely that children will be set for mathematics and English as they approach the top Years in school.
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Kutnick, P., Blatchford, P. (2014). The SPRinG Project: The Intervention Programme and the Evaluation Methods. In: Effective Group Work in Primary School Classrooms. Professional Learning and Development in Schools and Higher Education, vol 8. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6991-5_3
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