ABSTRACT
Despite clear evidence from psychological research that children can often learn more effectively through collaborative groupwork, this teaching strategy is not widely used with any success in Primary classrooms. This chapter analyses the reasons why this is the case and argues that a vital ingredient has been missing in the approach. For children to learn effectively in groups they need to learn social competence and be able to form and sustain close relationships. A programme of classroom activities which have been shown to facilitate these abilities is outlined.
