ABSTRACT
The National Curriculum makes it clear that teachers should set up different groups for different tasks and purposes.
The kind of groupwork discussed throughout this book lends itself best to situations where all groups work on the same task at the same time. However, we realise that this may not necessarily be possible or acceptable; for example, at times, and for certain kinds of activity, resources will be limited so that groups working on different tasks might be more appropriate. We have found, however, that when all groups work on the same task, the burden on teachers is often eased. It does not seem to create organisational problems. The use of teamteaching, or helpers and parents, may often allow for better management of groups in the classroom, but the aim of this book is to suggest alternative ways by which teachers can cope more easily with the many demands and pressures of classroom life. We hope that by using cooperative groupwork they will feel encouraged to allow children to take on more responsibility for their own work and the management of their own groups.
