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Abstract
It is common practice within primary classrooms for teachers to spilt children into different ability groups so that children of similar level are taught together. Whilst this practice is used across the globe, research is mixed on the benefits of such grouping strategy. This paper presents data collected from mixed methods research which investigated teachers use of grouping strategies and social comparison, the act of comparing oneself with others. It focuses on when, why and with whom children from different ability groups compare themselves and the impact this has on their self-perceptions. Drawing upon data from children aged between 10 and 11 years from 12 primary schools, social comparison was found to play a significant role in daily classroom life for some children. The study identified different strands of the social comparison process including acknowledgment, topic, target, and direction, and it revealed positive and negative effects of social comparison. A difference by ability group was identified. Children within the low ability group were particularly vulnerable to the negative effects of social comparison and found to engage in more frequent and intentional social comparisons which were heavily relied upon for self-evaluation and performance evaluation. The paper discusses the educational implications of social comparison regarding pupil ability grouping strategies, motivation, engagement, and academic performance. Implications for teacher education and professional development is discussed.
Highlights
Many educational systems utilize grouping by ability in which children of similar attainment level are taught together and this practice is increasing internationally (Taylor et al, 2020)
The findings presented here provide evidence of the vital role social comparison plays in the primary school classroom
Social comparison amongst 10–11-year-old children was found to be a highly prevalent daily aspect of classroom life experienced by all pupils regardless of ability group
Summary
Many educational systems utilize grouping by ability in which children of similar attainment level are taught together and this practice is increasing internationally (Taylor et al, 2020). Previous research on the motivation for grouping found that teachers like ability groups (Hallam and Ireson, 2007), pointing to the ease of teaching children of similar level of attainment in terms of differentiation, behavior management, and classroom management. Ability Groupings and Social Comparison (Muijs and Reynolds, 2005) While these reasons for grouping still prevail recent research suggests that teachers are conflicted about their use of grouping practices and concerned about its impact (Bradbury and Holmes, 2017; McGillicuddy and Devine, 2018). Grouping pupils by ability remains controversial (Hallam and Parsons, 2013; Francis et al, 2017)
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