Can the Grouping of Children in Classrooms Affect Their Learning; An Introduction to Social Pedagogy

Abstract

The aim of Chapter 1 is to introduce the concept 'social pedagogy of learning' and describe how it was developed over a number of years by Blatchford and Kutnick. Social pedagogy of learning recognizes that most acts of learning take place in a social context (between the learner and others), and learning that takes place in school-based classrooms presents a number of unusual circumstances which impinge upon the effectiveness of that learning. To understand why and how classrooms may affect learning, the chapter reviews a range of historical and theoretical circumstances; noting that classrooms are a relatively recent concept in the history of learning and that the process of learning is inherently 'social' (that is, it involves the learners interacting with others). Through the use of 'classroom mapping' we show the complex social and learning characteristics of classrooms that underlie our view of social pedagogy. Mapping shows that children undertake a range of learning tasks and interact with their teacher in a variety of ways-but mapping also notes that children spend most of their time with peers and in some form of classroom group. Interacting in close proximity with others has featured in a number of developmental psychological theories of learning as well as sociological and social psychological theories, and we note that children's cognitive development will be affected by the particular children and groups within which they interact. We argue that current explanations of socio-cognitive, cooperative and collaborative learning may not provide fully adequate models for learning in authentic classrooms. Here, and in Chapter 2, we identify that