ABSTRACT
The research evidence is clear that, compared with teachers, TAs spend much more time working with pupils in groups. Observations in primary schools conducted as part of the DISS project showed that TAs spent 41 per cent of their time working with small groups (groups of between two and five pupils) and 21 per cent working with medium-sized groups (six to ten pupils). In this chapter, the authors build on the book’s coverage so far by discussing how to support pupils in group settings. First, they look at the type of support required to help pupils ask one another for help and to provide help to others when working in groups. This will be familiar territory for many TAs. However, there is generally less information on how to support pupils when they work as groups; that is, how to support collaborative activities where there is a team goal.
