Bøker av Maurice Galton

First published in 1980, Progress and Performance in the Primary Classroom assesses the performance of primary schoolchildren in a range of study skills as well as on the more conventional tests of mathematics, language use and reading. The findings indicate that the more successful styles are used by the more experienced teachers, who manage to increase the amount of contact with the pupils by a variety of organizational strategies. While pupils who receive the greatest amount of class teaching do best on mathematics, there is no evidence to suggest that the characteristics of teaching valued by critics of modern primary practice exert any significant influence on pupil progress.The relationship between pupil progress and behaviour shows some remarkable patterns. For example, it was found that children who work on average one day per week less than other children still make the same progress in basic skills as the others. Such findings suggest that there is a need to examine how far teaching in the junior school is sufficiently stimulating and challenging, while at the same time acknowledging the difficulties of improving the situation while class sizes remain relatively high. This book will be of interest to students of education and pedagogy as well as to teachers.

First published in 1983, Moving from the Primary Classroom is concerned with what happens to pupils when they change teachers in the primary school and when they move to the secondary or middle school. Although most children are well prepared for the organizational changes, they will face after transfer, the researchers found that major difficulties were encountered when pupils adjusted to the new teaching styles associated with specialist subjects. As pupils move up the primary school, and after transfer, there appears to be a decrease in individualization of the learning process in favour of whole-class teaching and group work. This poses particular problems for pupils who find the work either too difficult or not sufficiently challenging. The disparity in the varying rates at which children complete their work sometimes causes acute problems which are fully documented. This book will be of interest to students of education, pedagogy as well as teachers.

Using case studies derived from the ORACLE II project, the authors examine the importance of collaboration in the development of higher mental functions and also the social and emotional advantages that can be derived from group work.

The ORACLE study (Observation and Classroom Learning and Evaluation) which took place from 1975 to 1980, followed by "Son of ORACLE", have had an enormous influence on primary education. This book focuses on the issue of transfer from the primary to the secondary school, using data from ORACLE.