Evidence

Paired and group activities can increase pupil success, but to work effectively pupils need guidance, support and practice

We’ve all sat through training sessions where we are asked to work with a group of people, sometimes strangers, and answer a question on a sheet of flip chart paper. We can remember the awkwardness as we politely, but silently, negotiate who speaks first. There is the sense of danger as you weigh up whether being the person who records the ideas means you are excused from being the person who has to stand up and feed back, or if the fact that no-one can read your handwriting means that you will _have _to do it. We also remember the sense of frustration that one person is dominating the discussion, and that what they’re saying seems to be completely missing the point of the task. Bad group work is truly awful.

As a classroom teacher, you will probably have considerable control over the way you ask pupils to complete tasks. You will have learned a lot already about the practicalities of managing pupils in the classroom. When you first started teaching last year, you may have had grand plans for complex group activities only to find that managing behaviour and the ‘classroom traffic’ that this can create was a challenge. As a new teacher, this can take up a lot of your planning time and attention in class. You might have recognised that for many tasks, pupils can work effectively when working individually and as a result have minimised group work activities. This Block will give you the chance to think in detail about how to balance the benefits to pupils’ learning with classroom management and efficiency.

The evidence shows that planning opportunities for pupils to work, and in particular to practise, in both pairs and groups can increase their success:

• Group work fosters cooperation between pupils and thereby develops pupils’ social skills.
• It supports pupils to develop empathetic abilities and see things from multiple viewpoints.
• Pupils learn to compromise.
• Pupils can provide each other with scaffolding.
• The total sum knowledge of a group is higher than that housed within one individual; this may allow the teacher to set work that is more challenging.
• Pupils have the opportunity to restructure their own thinking by talking to others (Muijs & Reynolds, 2017).

However, pupils will not automatically be good at this kind of activity and need to be taught how to do it well. You will also need to think carefully in your planning about the purpose of paired or group work in relation to pupils’ learning and the wider benefits to them: doing group work simply for its own sake may not be the best use of classroom time.

Your role as teacher is to:

• Explicitly teach pupils how you want them to conduct paired and group work
• Support pupils to learn how to do paired and group work well by providing support during tasks
• Ensure that pupils have the opportunity to practise how to do paired and group work, recognising that it will take time for them to become skilled in it

A number of elements can support group work to be effective. These include:

• Familiarity with routines
• Pupils’ prior knowledge in relation to the task
• How pupils are grouped
• Group goals, in which the group works together towards a shared goal, reward or recognition
• Individual accountability, in which the success of the group depends on the individual learning of each group member

Have a look at these two examples

Example A

Informal group learning:

• the teacher has not planned explicitly for group work but feels that the task should be performed in a group
• pupils are given a task to carry out as a group but the teacher does not provide specific roles or guidance to the group beyond that they need to work together to complete the task: "You’re going to work together to complete the experiment, off you go"
• each pupil tends to carry out a separate activity which contributes to the completion of the task, but this depends on how functional each group is
• rewards are provided to individuals within the task: "Now you have completed the task, you need to write it up individually and I will mark it"

Example B

Structured team learning

• the teacher has planned explicitly for group work within the lesson, planning that there will be specific roles for pupils within each group: "Number 1s will find out about the reactions of Group 1 metals. Number 2s will get the information about their physical properties. Number 3s will find out about their uses"
• the teacher has also developed a set of success criteria around what good group work will look like and the team will be rated by the teacher against this set of criteria: "High performing groups will: speak politely and respectfully to each other, use group work voices (other groups should not be able to hear your conversions), listen to each other, encourage and support each other"
• the teacher monitors and provides feedback and guidance on the quality of both group work and task progress
• pupils will also be assessed as individuals so that they take accountability for their role within the team: "Now we’ll have a quick test and see what you have each learned. We’ll mark your tests individually and then combine your scores to see which team has improved the most since last time"

 In your notepad

Answer the following questions:

• which is preferable, example A or B?
• why?
• what are three implications for your practice?

How pupils are grouped is also important

Care should be taken to monitor the impact of groupings on pupil attainment, behaviour and motivation.

"Effective small group work is not something that just happens when we put pupils into groups. For small group work to be effective, a number of elements need to be taken into account in the structuring of the task. The teacher needs to make clear that cooperation between pupils in the group is desired."

(Muijs & Reynolds, 2017)

There are many different ways in which pupils can be grouped, for example:

• Random pairs
• A pair of higher and lower attainment
• Pairs of similar attainment
• Random trios
• Trios of similar attainment
• Mixed ability trios
• Larger groups of four or more either of similar or mixed attainment

It is important that you carefully consider how you are going to group pupils for the task you want them to complete. You will need to think about what each person within the group is going to do and why working in that way is likely to yield a benefit. For example, you might be teaching an English lesson which is exploring different characters’ viewpoints. Grouping pupils for this task where they take on the viewpoint of a different character can help to bring the story alive. You might want pupils to complete a difficult piece of work – using mixed attainment groupings in this instance can help to support pupils of lower attainment. However, it is important to be mindful that the higher-attainment pupil doesn’t simply ‘take over’. It seems obvious, but you will also need to think carefully about the likely social dynamics of certain groupings: some pairs will demonstrate excellent social skills without much learning taking place!

You may get ‘free-riders’ within groups (Muijs & Reynolds, 2017). That is, pupils who are able to hide within a group situation and avoid completing work. Johnson & Johnson (1994) suggest that one way to mitigate against this is to assign pupils with clear roles. Using the same roles consistently in different group tasks will help pupils to become familiar with the routines of group work. Knowing what the different roles are, how each role contributes to the group task and practically what to do in each role is important pre-knowledge for pupils to be able to perform the roles and therefore the group work successfully. In different activities, these might include:

• The summarizer, who will prepare the group’s presentation to the class and summarize conclusions reached to see if the rest of the group agrees.
• The researcher, who collects background information and looks up any additional information that is needed to complete the task.
• The checker, who checks that the facts the group will use are indeed correct and will stand up to scrutiny from the teacher or other groups.
• The runner, who tries to find the resources needed to complete the task, such as equipment and dictionaries.
• The observer/trouble-shooter, who takes notes and records group processes; these may be used during the debriefing following the group work.
• The recorder, who writes down the major output of the group, and synthesises the work of other group members.

One simple way to monitor the impact of groupings on pupil attainment, behaviour and motivation is to ensure that you record how you have grouped pupils and make observations about attainment, behaviour and motivation based on that grouping. You can also give individual and group scores to pupils for work they have carried out in groups thus increasing individual accountability for the work carried out within a group. This should be carried out while pupils are working in groups so that it does not create unnecessary workload for you or take additional time for them.

Video

Title

Setting up a group activity

Video type

Classroom practice

Short description

A teacher explains how she would like the groups to be set up for an activity.

What should you focus on in this video?

• How does the teacher communicate her expectations of group work?
• What are the different roles pupils are being asked to take on?
• What is the impact of this?
• The group work task comes after a series of lessons developing foundational knowledge. What is the benefit of this?

Video script

Teacher: As you know, this term our topic is ‘The Restless Earth’ and you have been learning about the causes and impacts of volcanic eruptions. In the last lesson, we learned about how volcanic eruptions can be predicted. Today we are going to be learning about what happened during the Montserrat earthquake. You will be applying the knowledge you have built up to a real-life situation. It would be helpful to have your knowledge organiser to hand so you can refer to the key terms where needed. 

For this lesson, we are going to be working in teams. You are part of a team of volcano experts invited to the Montserrat Volcano Observatory to help the geologists manage a serious situation developing on the island. There have been a number of earthquakes and pyroclastic flows around the Soufriere Hills volcano. Now a dome is growing on the side of the main volcano. If it collapses, huge pyroclastic flows with potential to cause major loss of life will result. A helicopter pilot is in the air sending back reports. It is up to your team to collect the reports, map the volcanic activity and make the crucial decisions required to manage the situation.

Right, so let’s discuss roles.

I am His Excellency, Frank Savage the Governor of the island. 

Each team requires the following members:

Information coordinator

Your role is to monitor the reports coming in from the helicopter and take them to the rest of the team. You also need to take the decisions made by the crisis manager to the governor for checking.

Geologist 

Your role is to make a map of the volcanic hazard, and work with the crisis manager on a plan for ensuring the safety of the islanders.

Crisis manager

Your role is to make important decisions to manage the crisis. You have the reports from the helicopter and the advice of the geologist. After you make a decision, send your advice to the governor immediately. You will get instant feedback on your decision. 

You will now have one minute in your groups to decide who is going to do what role. 

3, 2, 1… Hands up if you are the information coordinator… hands up if you are the geologist... hands up if you are the crisis manager.

Each group needs the following resources:

1. A3 map of the island for annotation by the Geologist
2. Decision-making sheet (Crisis manager)
3. A4 map of the island for part 2 of the task
4. Notepaper for the information coordinator

Flexibly grouping pupils within a class to provide more tailored support can be effective, but care should be taken to monitor its impact on engagement and motivation, particularly for low-attaining pupils

Different schools take different approaches when it comes to how pupils are grouped at the school level. For example, in some schools, pupils are grouped by attainment for classes in ‘core’ subjects such as maths, English and science and in mixed-ability groups for ‘non-core’ subjects (setting) or in all subjects (streaming). In other schools, there is no ability grouping at all. Primary schools may take a similar variety of approaches, grouping pupils by ability for some, all or none of the subjects and lessons throughout the week.

This is a hot topic: ‘ability grouping has been one of the most controversial educational practices for more than a century’ (Steenbergen et al., 2016). As a classroom teacher, you may not have full control over the decisions your school makes with respect to this. However, you do have a lot of control over how you group pupils within your classes.

Different forms of grouping seem to create different opportunities for effectively adapting teaching to students’ needs (Deunk et al., 2018). The evidence suggests that grouping pupils flexibly within classes is effective as it enables you to provide tailored support. This might be done in a couple of main ways:

• Homogenous or within-class attainment groupings

This means pupils of very similar prior attainment level working together for specific activities or topics such as literacy. This might involve pupils of similar levels of current attainment being grouped together on specific tables for example, but all pupils being taught by their usual teacher and support staff and following the same curriculum (EEF, 2018).

The aim of this type of grouping is to match tasks, activities and support to pupils’ current capabilities, so that all pupils have an appropriate level of challenge while maintaining high expectations and access to a rich curriculum. This might enable you to spend more time with lower attainment pupils, using in-lesson intervention as an effective and efficient way to support them. The evidence on within-class attainment grouping indicates that it is likely to be beneficial for all learners, providing an average benefit of three months’ additional progress. However, there appears to be less benefit for lower-attaining pupils than for others. In England, within-class attainment grouping tends to be more common in primary than in secondary schools (EEF, 2018).

• Heterogeneous or mixed attainment groupings

This means that pupils of diverse attainment levels are grouped together. This might allow for within-group scaffolding to take place, i.e. higher attaining pupils are able to provide support to lower ability pupils. There are some known positive effects for higher-attaining pupils of taking on this role.

It is important that you do not stick to one type of grouping, especially within-class attainment groups, because you run the risk of creating a perception that attainment is fixed. There can be particular implications for pupils who are considered low-attainment. Groups should be flexible between subjects, i.e. groups for literacy are not the same for maths and revert to normal mixed groups for other subjects, and – over time – can be changed regularly in line with assessment data.

According to Steenbergen et al., 2016, the findings of the research on the effects of grouping by attainment on the academic and personal outcomes of students have suggested positive benefits for students assigned to high groups (Kulik & Kulik, 1982; Kerckhoff, 1986; Ireson & Hallam, 2001). The progress of students in lower groups, however, was found to be delayed by one or two months each year, and their confidence and engagement were undermined (Higgins et al., 2015).

Homework can improve pupil outcomes, particularly for older pupils, but it is likely that the quality of homework and its relevance to main class teaching is more important than the amount set

Different schools will have different approaches to homework. The most important thing to remember about homework is that it is the quality and not the quantity that counts.

Potential benefits of homework

Short-term:

• Better retention of facts and knowledge
• Increased understanding
• Improved information processing skills
• Improved critical thinking skills
• Possibility of extending the curriculum

Long term:

• Development of better study habits
• Development of better attitudes towards school
• Encouragement of learning outside school hours
• Independent learning
• Time organisation

Most schools will have a policy in relation to homework in terms of when and how much should be set. As a classroom teacher, you will not have control over this. However, it is likely that you have considerable control over the type of homework set. It is difficult to isolate the effects of homework from other factors that might contribute to pupils’ achievement. The benefits of homework are largely dependent on its quality and the extent to which it relates to what pupils need to learn within the class. For example, if pupils are set an entirely discrete homework project for a term that does not relate to what they are learning in lessons, it is likely that there will be fewer gains in progress.

Muijs & Reynolds (2017) exemplify this approach by suggesting several principles to follow, including:

• It should be integrated into the lesson or topic studied. One way to do this is to review homework at the start of the lesson. Homework is seen as an integral part of the lesson.
• Reinforces major curriculum ideas – homework should be challenging but pupils should be able to complete it successfully.
• Use a homework planner.

Homework is an ideal opportunity to apply what you learnt in Block 8 about effective study habits and increasing the chances of leaning ‘sticking’. Homework should complement your in-class work and your overall goals for what pupils will learn. Some ways you can do this include:

• Use homework tasks as an opportunity to balance repetition, practice and retrieval of critical knowledge and skills (e.g. include a section on previously learnt material in homework tasks).
• Plan regular review and practice of key ideas and concepts over time – when you plan a topic or scheme of work, also plan when pupils will revisit it through homework at later points in the year.
• Provide just enough support so pupils experience high success rates with challenging work – include worked examples or partially completed examples at the start of homework tasks.
• Increase the challenge by lengthening spacing or introducing interacting elements, such as how this new topic interacts with a previously leant idea or concept.

References

Deunk, M. I., Smale-Jacobse, A. E., de Boer, H., Doolaard, S., & Bosker, R. J. (2018) Effective differentiation Practices: A systematic review and meta-analysis of studies on the cognitive effects of differentiation practices in primary education. Educational Research Review, 24(February), 31–54. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2018.02.002.

Education Endowment Foundation (2018) Sutton Trust-Education Endowment Foundation Teaching and Learning Toolkit. Accessible from: https://educationendowmentfoundation.org.uk/evidence-summaries/teaching-learning-toolkit/ [retrieved 10 October 2020].

Muijs, D., & Reynolds, D. (2017) Effective teaching: Evidence and practice. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Steenbergen-Hu, S., Makel, M. C., & Olszewski-Kubilius, P. (2016) What One Hundred Years of Research Says About the Effects of Ability Grouping and Acceleration on K-12 Students Academic Achievement: Findings of Two Second-Order Meta-Analyses. Review of Educational Research (Vol. 86). https://doi.org/10.3102/0034654316675417.