Changes in Patterns of Teacher Interaction in Primary Classrooms: 1976‐96

Abstract

For the past two decades there has been persistent controversy regarding the effectiveness of the different teaching methods used in the English primary classroom. One of the earliest studies of the primary classroom, the ORACLE study, described the typical behaviours of teachers and pupils. Since that time there have been various interventions designed ‘to change the way that primary teachers teach’. The research reported here evaluates the success of these interventions by replicating the work of 20 years ago by using the same observation methods in some of the same schools.