Planning and Facilitating Group Learning

This book makes the case that productive group work is complex and requires teacher expertise. It explores types of group and criteria for grouping pupils, examines the research, and offers guidance for teacher educators on developing relevant expertise in beginning teachers.

Ben Knighthas been a teacher educator in higher education for the past 14 years and before that was a primary school teacher and senior leader in both suburban and inner-city schools. His research and publications reflect his interests in the complexities of classroom learning, teacher professional development, and encouraging teachers to refine and draw on their professional instincts, judgement, and intuition.

Marcus Witt began his teaching career in the hills of South India teaching in an international school before moving to a school in rural Kentucky and then returning to the UK to complete his PGCE. After several years teaching in primary schools, he moved into teacher education, where he has been working for the past 16 years. He has been involved in the writing of two books about teaching primary mathematics and is interested in the emotional aspects of mathematical learning and teacher professional development.

Ian Menter is former President of BERA, 2013-2015. At Oxford University Department of Education he was Director of Professional Programmes and led the development of the Oxford Education Deanery. Prior to that he was Professor of Teacher Education at the University of Glasgow and held posts at the University of the West of Scotland, London Metropolitan University, University of the West of England and the University of Gloucestershire. Ian was President of the Scottish Educational Research Association from 2005-07 and chaired the Research and Development Committee of the Universities’ Council for the Education of Teachers (UCET) from 2008-11. He is a Visiting Professor at Bath Spa University and Ulster University and an Honorary Professor at the University of Exeter. Since 2018 he has been a Senior Research Associate at Kazan Federal University, Russia.