Our research constructed school life histories with 23 'lower-attaining' primary school children in England. Previous research has often failed to focus on the social justice aspects of this group, and no attempt has been made to contextualise children's misrecognition experiences within their full school life history, nor to hear primarily from…

Background: South Africa is a country with a reading crisis: 81% of Grade 4 learners are unable to read for meaning in Grade 4. Teaching methods and practices have been identified as a primary cause; there is an over-reliance on choral methods, very little focus on meaning, weak feedback and assessment, and little interaction with books. Aim: This…

This paper explores the peer relationship experiences of 23 primary-school children who had been designated as "lower-attaining". It is written against the backdrop of the mental health crisis among young people in Britain. Using John Macmurray's principles of equality and freedom as underpinning positive personal relationships, it…

The article reports data from an aspect of the study which aimed to study the nature of children's interactions and their perceptions of ability-based groups in a primary classroom in England. Previous studies on ability-based group have mainly used quantitative research designs to study children's interactions and appeared to award less…

This article focuses on the unintended consequences of within-class ability grouping on primary students of mathematics. I review relevant research, including promising approaches to teaching in mixed ability settings. I then outline four ways in which these groupings are typically structured, discussing some of the issues that arise with each of…

Teacher expectations influence how children fare in education. However, we know little about how 4- and 5-year-old children in Aotearoa New Zealand perceive their curriculum experiences. This qualitative study utilised interviews to explore the perceptions of 12 children (attending kindergarten and school) regarding their teachers' expectations of…

Grouping pupils by attainment is frequently practised in primary schools yet is associated with detrimental effects for middle- and lower-attaining children. Drawing on a mixed methods study, we find that attainment grouping practices at key stage 2 in primary schools are seldom straightforward. Although grouping by attainment appears to be the…

In this two-part study, high-ability students' experiences of need support, need satisfaction, and motivation in regular and pull-out classes were compared. Quantitative results from Study 1 indicated that high-ability students (N = 203) reported more satisfaction of their needs for autonomy, competence, and relatedness and more favorable…

Within the wealth of research on 'ability' in education, there is a missing perspective: the perspective of the child. Whilst 'ability' informed practices such as 'ability' grouping are commonplace in the UK, how these are experienced by the young child has previously received only limited attention in research. Using case study evidence, this…

Understanding how children's broader context influences their development is critical if we are to develop policies that help them flourish. Combining sociological, economic, and psychological literature, we argue that ability stratification--the degree to which children of similar levels of ability are schooled together--influences a child's…

Background: This article casts the analytical spotlight on the practice of within-class homogeneous (same) ability grouping where learners are placed in small groups for instruction based on their perceived performances, reading levels and interest. Very few studies have focused on within-class ability grouping, especially in a South African…

The study investigated the reported regressive performances of students in spatial reasoning concepts with a view to promote early spatial reasoning of lower primary school pupils across ability levels and sex. Non-equivalent experimental research design was employed. A hundred and five (105) pupils in four intact classes were exposed to six weeks…

This paper analyses English Millennium Cohort Study data (N = 4463). It examines two respective predictors of children's maths self-concept at age 11: earlier in-class maths 'ability' group and earlier teacher judgements of children's maths 'ability/attainment' (both at age seven). It also investigates differential associations by maths cognitive…

Many studies in the past decades have focused on low and typical mathematics achievers, yet little is known about children with high mathematics achievement, particularly at a young age. The current study aimed to fill this gap and started from the early work of Krutetskii (1976) as a theoretical lens to study the characteristics of high…

The transition from primary to secondary education is regarded as a crucial phase in pupils' school careers. Changes in the school environment have a negative influence on pupils' perceived control and engagement. However, until now little attention has been devoted to the role of the onset of ability grouping therein, which often coincides with…