Guidance developed for teachers, also included commentary stemming from research into group work in classrooms (). Illustrative detail as to how teachers can foster group work was included on the basis that teachers may well have concerns that group work has the potential to be a disruptive force , influencing curricular content to be learnt and peer relationships (; ). Guidance shared detail how groups should be arranged, and included a brief explanation of why such arrangements have value, giving teachers grounds for their approach. In particular, guidance regarding the arrangement of pupils into groups was explored in the project documents. The first feature related to the arrangement of pupils into small groups. Teachers were advised to implement groups, arranging groups to allow a mixture of skills and abilities taking into account factors such as ability and gender. Pupils ideally, should also be similar in terms of their relationships with each other (; ). Suggesting that within such groups, peers will be less threatened by each other and discussion that allows different perspectives to be explored is likely. The learning climate or environment within which children work is also relevant, a supportive atmosphere encourages children to respond more openly and welcome their peers’ contributions (; ; ). Research suggests that mutual respect is likely to optimise opportunities for learning (; ). A supportive climate may contribute to pupils’ experience of group work and is argued to underpin interaction in groups (; ). Studies suggest that teachers may need to cultivate and maintain such a climate. Pupils within groups are encouraged to interact and share ideas, which may not bring about straightforward interaction and pupils have to reconcile their method of working with changes in the teacher’s role. To help gauge the impact of the methodology a measure of peer interaction was included. Concerns raised by teachers and stakeholders involved in education, meant that the measure of peer interaction was completed by teachers rather than pupils, and is seen as a suitable alternative when pupil data is not available (). Similar hostility was evident in a study involving primary aged children also located in Scotland () and has been noted regarding this form of data collection (; ). In this instance, teachers completed a rating scale per pupil, on two occasions, once at the start and once at the completion of the study. To ensure that both teachers and pupils held a
Guidance developed for teachers, also included commentary stemming from research into group work in classrooms (). Illustrative detail as to how teachers can foster group work was included on the basis that teachers may well have concerns that group work has the potential to be a disruptive force , influencing curricular content to be learnt and peer relationships (; ). Guidance shared detail how groups should be arranged, and included a brief explanation of why such arrangements have value, giving teachers grounds for their approach. In particular, guidance regarding the arrangement of pupils into groups was explored in the project documents. The first feature related to the arrangement of pupils into small groups. Teachers were advised to implement groups, arranging groups to allow a mixture of skills and abilities taking into account factors such as ability and gender. Pupils ideally, should also be similar in terms of their relationships with each other (; ). Suggesting that within such groups, peers will be less threatened by each other and discussion that allows different perspectives to be explored is likely. The learning climate or environment within which children work is also relevant, a supportive atmosphere encourages children to respond more openly and welcome their peers’ contributions (; ; ). Research suggests that mutual respect is likely to optimise opportunities for learning (; ). A supportive climate may contribute to pupils’ experience of group work and is argued to underpin interaction in groups (; ). Studies suggest that teachers may need to cultivate and maintain such a climate. Pupils within groups are encouraged to interact and share ideas, which may not bring about straightforward interaction and pupils have to reconcile their method of working with changes in the teacher’s role. To help gauge the impact of the methodology a measure of peer interaction was included. Concerns raised by teachers and stakeholders involved in education, meant that the measure of peer interaction was completed by teachers rather than pupils, and is seen as a suitable alternative when pupil data is not available (). Similar hostility was evident in a study involving primary aged children also located in Scotland () and has been noted regarding this form of data collection (; ). In this instance, teachers completed a rating scale per pupil, on two occasions, once at the start and once at the completion of the study. To ensure that both teachers and pupils held a
AAM_version_IJER_article_2013_Briefing.docx