Factors deterring schools from mixed attainment teaching practice
Mixed-attainment teaching has strong support from research and yet English schools are far more likely to teach students in ‘ability’ groups. Although research has considered some of the specific benefits of mixed-attainment grouping, there has been little attention to the reasons schools avoid it....
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| Format: | Article |
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Taylor & Francis
2017
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| Online Access: | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38788/ |
| _version_ | 1848795691159126016 |
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| author | Taylor, Becky Francis, Becky Archer, Lousie Hodgen, Jeremy Pepper, David Tereschchenko, Antonina Travers, Mary-Clare |
| author_facet | Taylor, Becky Francis, Becky Archer, Lousie Hodgen, Jeremy Pepper, David Tereschchenko, Antonina Travers, Mary-Clare |
| author_sort | Taylor, Becky |
| building | Nottingham Research Data Repository |
| collection | Online Access |
| description | Mixed-attainment teaching has strong support from research and yet English schools are far more likely to teach students in ‘ability’ groups. Although research has considered some of the specific benefits of mixed-attainment grouping, there has been little attention to the reasons schools avoid it. This article explores data from the pilot and recruitment phases of a large-scale study into grouping practices and seeks to identify reasons for the low rate of mixed attainment grouping in English secondary schools. We report on our struggle to recruit schools, and explore the different explanations provided by teachers as to why mixed attainment practice is seen as problematic. The difficulties are characterised as a vicious circle where schools are deterred by a paucity of exemplars and resources and the educational climate is characterised as fearful, risk-averse and time-poor. Suggestions are made as to strategies to support schools in taking up mixed attainment practices. |
| first_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:36:06Z |
| format | Article |
| id | nottingham-38788 |
| institution | University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus |
| institution_category | Local University |
| last_indexed | 2025-11-14T19:36:06Z |
| publishDate | 2017 |
| publisher | Taylor & Francis |
| recordtype | eprints |
| repository_type | Digital Repository |
| spelling | nottingham-387882020-05-04T18:59:23Z https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38788/ Factors deterring schools from mixed attainment teaching practice Taylor, Becky Francis, Becky Archer, Lousie Hodgen, Jeremy Pepper, David Tereschchenko, Antonina Travers, Mary-Clare Mixed-attainment teaching has strong support from research and yet English schools are far more likely to teach students in ‘ability’ groups. Although research has considered some of the specific benefits of mixed-attainment grouping, there has been little attention to the reasons schools avoid it. This article explores data from the pilot and recruitment phases of a large-scale study into grouping practices and seeks to identify reasons for the low rate of mixed attainment grouping in English secondary schools. We report on our struggle to recruit schools, and explore the different explanations provided by teachers as to why mixed attainment practice is seen as problematic. The difficulties are characterised as a vicious circle where schools are deterred by a paucity of exemplars and resources and the educational climate is characterised as fearful, risk-averse and time-poor. Suggestions are made as to strategies to support schools in taking up mixed attainment practices. Taylor & Francis 2017-08-05 Article PeerReviewed Taylor, Becky, Francis, Becky, Archer, Lousie, Hodgen, Jeremy, Pepper, David, Tereschchenko, Antonina and Travers, Mary-Clare (2017) Factors deterring schools from mixed attainment teaching practice. Pedagogy, Culture and Society, 25 (3). pp. 327-345. ISSN 1747-5104 mixed attainment grouping English secondary schools ability grouping fear setting http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/14681366.2016.1256908 doi:10.1080/14681366.2016.1256908 doi:10.1080/14681366.2016.1256908 |
| spellingShingle | mixed attainment grouping English secondary schools ability grouping fear setting Taylor, Becky Francis, Becky Archer, Lousie Hodgen, Jeremy Pepper, David Tereschchenko, Antonina Travers, Mary-Clare Factors deterring schools from mixed attainment teaching practice |
| title | Factors deterring schools from mixed attainment teaching practice |
| title_full | Factors deterring schools from mixed attainment teaching practice |
| title_fullStr | Factors deterring schools from mixed attainment teaching practice |
| title_full_unstemmed | Factors deterring schools from mixed attainment teaching practice |
| title_short | Factors deterring schools from mixed attainment teaching practice |
| title_sort | factors deterring schools from mixed attainment teaching practice |
| topic | mixed attainment grouping English secondary schools ability grouping fear setting |
| url | https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38788/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38788/ https://eprints.nottingham.ac.uk/38788/ |