Sorry if I am repeating myself, but I know there is still ability grouping happening in some classrooms. Many of us may have suffered under this structure-if we were not in the "top group" we considered ourselves dum!!!
In real life we don't group we work cooperatively with all types of people, ethnicities and so called "academic achievements"
We really need to re-think our classroom organisations to create better learning environments to encourage enjoyment and achievement. If we reflect on what is happening in homes all around the world at the moment there are all levels of ability, interest, age working together on maths activities and investigations (hopefully all happily!)
'Not working in ability groups has been a revelation'
One of the first things Year 4 teacher Tracey Baruah tried when her school joined the Mastery Readiness Programme was abandoning the practice of putting children in different groups according to their perceived ability.
But Tracey, maths lead at Spring Bank Primary School in Leeds, with over 25 years' teaching behind her, quickly saw the benefits:
Not working in ability groups has been quite a revelation, she enthuses.
Watching Tracey lead a class discussion with Year 4, it is striking
that all the children are involved, and that the discussion she’s
leading is only possible because the children have all been working on
the same, open-ended question.
…and that speaks volumes about how
children rise to the challenge. Regardless of what their ability is
deemed to be, if you give them an equal opportunity at something, they
rise to it. They will have a go.
Sarah explains that they now often use the format of question we have
seen in the Year 4 lesson: asking children what they know, and what
they can find out. It has really helped pupil confidence because it
removes the feeling of ‘I can’t do it’.Spring Bank Primary School is a one-form entry school in the Headingley area of Leeds. Following an Ofsted judgement of Requires Improvement (RI), the school joined the Mastery Readiness Programme with the West Yorkshire Maths Hub. They took the decision to remove ‘ability’ groups early on, hoping to increase all children’s success in maths.
Pupil confidence is one of the things that has been improved by removing ability-groupings, says Tracey:
Some of my children came into Year 3, last year, thinking ‘That work’s not for me’. And now they would never say that.
Sarah agrees:
Children will still say ‘Yes, I find maths
tricky, but I know what to do to help me, I know who I can talk to, I
know what I can use’. I think historically, when we did do that
three-way, five-way differentiation, we were labelling. I really do feel
it labels children. And children aren’t daft – they know when they’re
not getting the hard work.
So, how does giving the whole class the same problem help build all
children’s confidence? Sarah explains that those children who might
previously have been given work for ‘lower ability’ pupils would never
get the opportunity to see or hear the most difficult maths being done
in the class and to engage with it. She says, ‘Now all children are
seeing the best possible (mathematical) outcomes (from the problems
set)’. Not only that, Tracey points out, but their contributions are
being valued by others in the class:
They are also getting someone saying to
them, ‘Oh right, actually that’s a really good way, I’d not thought
about doing that,’ or, ‘Show me how you did it, oh right, that’s a
really good way to do it’.
We’ve also talked about how one size
doesn’t fit all. All children have different skills, different areas of
expertise, different understanding. You can have a child that really
struggles with calculations and problem-solving but is a complete whizz
when it comes to time or money. They bring those skills to the table.
And what about those children that might previously have been on the
‘top table’ or doing ‘harder’ work? Tracey says that children can still
be challenged, but by deepening their understanding rather than racing
on to the next topic with only a procedural understanding of the
previous one:
At the other end of the spectrum, the
‘more able’ children, they’re still engaged in what you want them to do.
And they’re able to share their expertise. There are lots of very
subtle ways that you can extend them. It doesn’t have to be a different
activity. It can be through your questioning. When children are busy,
there’s lots of scope to go and ask individual questions.
Sarah adds:
It’s not just about ‘they are very good at
that, let’s see what’s harder, or more challenging or a bigger number’ –
the old style of looking at challenging maths. The staff collectively
really do understand that going deeper is about the reasoning, the
explanation, the ‘how can you show this?’ I think the children have
really embraced that as well – they understand that it’s not just about
harder maths and bigger numbers, it’s about truly understanding.
