Group work is generally accepted as part of the educational ideology of today's primary classrooms. It can, however, mean almost anything from group seating as a technique of classroom management to fully collaborative learning. The authors start from the position that getting children to work together is time-consuming and not easy and that teachers need some assurance that it is worthwhile. Drawing on the work of Vygotsky they look at the importance of collaboration in the development of higher mental functions and also discuss the social and emotional advantages that children can derive...

In the late 20th century 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...

In the late 20th century 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...

The ORACLE (Observation and Classroom Learning and Evaluation) and its follow-up study address the following questions:
Has teaching in the primary school changed over the past twenty years?
Has pupil performance improved or declined?
Are the links between certain teacher approaches and pupil achievement still the same?
Has the National Curriculum had any important consequences for the way in which transfer is conducted?
One of the main claims of the National Curriculum is that it has provided greater continuity through the various stages and this should be reflected in...

The ORACLE (Observation and Classroom Learning and Evaluation) and its follow-up study address the following questions:
Has teaching in the primary school changed over the past twenty years?
Has pupil performance improved or declined?
Are the links between certain teacher approaches and pupil achievement still the same?
Has the National Curriculum had any important consequences for the way in which transfer is conducted?
One of the main claims of the National Curriculum is that it has provided greater continuity through the various stages and this should be reflected in...

Providing a framework for understanding the individual needs of pupils, this book describes how you can tailor your teaching methods to maximise learning. You will learn how to take account of your pupils' knowledge, skills and attitudes when selecting and applying principles of instruction, in order to make learning in your classroom as successful as possible.

Packed with informative case studies and classroom examples, this book explores how learning is conceptualised, direct instruction, interactive teaching, teaching as scaffolding, and how to overcome obstacles to...