Mixed Ability Groups: The Case for a More Egalitarian Maths Classroom
Mixed Ability Groups: The Case for a More Egalitarian Maths Classroom The other day one of my year 10 kids asked what set they were in and I told them set four to which they said “oh god! Is that the bottom set?". I said it was but that didn’t mean they couldn’t do well. I explained that I didn’t believe in setting and that as a department we were no longer setting at KS3 to which they said how lucky they thought those kids were. They asked if they could move up and I said they could but that they were lucky to be in such a small class (eight students) and that it would be a bigger group in set three. One of the girls remarked how awful the set three she had been in the previous year had been, how it had been loud and how she hated it. I explained that lots of the time students who have trouble with behaviour end up being put in lower sets. They said at least if you move up it gives your confidence a boost but then immediately the same girl said but it ruins it when you move dow...