SPRinG at Key Stage 1: Effective Group Work with Young Children

Abstract

Chapter 4 is the first of the empirical chapters that evaluates the effectiveness of the SPRinG programme in enhancing group work in authentic classrooms. This chapter focuses on the implementation of the programme in the early years of primary schools. The study reported is set against a background that finds few group working and/or co-operative studies previously undertaken with children in the 5–7 year age group. The study was undertaken using a quasi-experimental design which compared 19 SPRinG classes with 18 Control classes. Findings clearly show that participation of young children in the SPRinG programme: positively affects their learning (literacy and mathematical understanding); is associated with increased use of groups in the classroom with high levels of task focus; and increases motivation to share their learning with others. Children who showed the most progress were those who increased their mutual or symmetric conversations with peers. Classes that showed the most progress were organized by teachers who were most committed to bringing SPRinG principles into their classrooms. And, behavioural analyses showed that the relational skills promoted at the start of the SPRinG programme were drawn upon with greater frequency throughout the school year—suggesting a ‘spiralling’ of initial skills that served as a basis for increasingly effect group working among children through the remainder of the school year.