ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the ways in which the 'curriculum' processes are organized, including the many methods of grouping for teaching and learning purposes. It is almost always assumed that children will learn to different degrees what they are taught over the same period of time. In the voluntary elementary schools of nineteenth-century England the pupils of all ages frequently formed one basic teaching group taken by the master with his assistants, sometimes pupil-teachers. In secondary schools top stream pupils are commonly set more homework, in grammar schools only they may be taught a second language, and in non-selective schools only they may be taught any languages or separate sciences: all justified by their being defined as 'able'. In mixed schools, sex is a convenient way of dividing groups of pupils into two smaller sets for queueing and other purposes. However, the social significance of sex is clearer when it is used to differentiate cloakrooms and playgrounds.
