Stakeholders’ perceptions of within-class ability grouping in a primary school physical education unit

Abstract

ABSTRACT Background Ability grouping in education is the practice of separating students into different groups or classes according to their actual or perceived ability levels. Studies of ability grouping in physical education have been few in number or broad in purpose and methodology. What is certain however is that the voices of students remain principally absent. Purpose To examine the pedagogical practice of physical ability grouping from the perspective of teachers and students following a 20-lesson unit in a primary school physical education class. Method One hundred and sixty-five fifth-grade students from three different physical education classes in the United States participated in 20 lesson units of tchoukball. Students in each class were divided into nine teams making up three leagues: Snakes (higher skilled), Dragons (middle level), and Tigers (lower skilled). Each league was led by one of the three teachers responsible for instruction. Individual interviews were conducted with all three teachers, while 24 interviews were conducted with the student participants. While the interviews were open-ended, particular attention was given to participant perceptions of the ability grouping used in the tchoukball unit. Results Four findings are reported generated from teacher interviews: perceptions of grouping outcomes; (ii) perceptions of student engagement; (iii) impact on teaching; and (iv) future intentions with respect to forming groups in physical education. Four further outcomes were created by capturing the voices of the students: (i) their positive overall perceptions of the unit; (ii) their responses to being in their groups; (iii) interactions with teachers; (iv) comparisons with previous physical education lessons. Discussion The discussion is organized around a set of questions that might be considered by teachers if they decide to initiate ability grouping. They are also designed to serve as possible research questions that could be taken up to advance our understanding of the practices of grouping in physical education. These are: (i) are ‘soft’ approaches to grouping the only defendable option? (ii) (how) is it possible to ensure an even distribution of benefit across all students? (iii) what advantages (if any) are to be gained by providing chances to learn from higher skilled classmates? and (iv) are grouping labels necessary?