Edel Traylen
Learners not levels
I have always had a problem with labelling children as ‘lower ability’. It has left me feeling
uncomfortable, as though I have stigmatised them. I have put them in a category that makes them
feel, in some ways, lesser than their peers.
What does this mean for them?
Often it has meant being put into an ability group where expectations are lower. The children are
given more support; so much so that they, in fact, become dependent upon it. Even more troubling is
a growing awareness that they are ‘not as able’ as their peers. I believe that this affects their selfesteem and their self-motivation.
Why?
From as early as my own school days, I have been conscious of ‘setting’ in the classroom. I felt
fortunate that I was put in the ‘top set’ in primary school. It gave me confidence and I felt I could
achieve great things. I had an awareness that I was clever, that I was more able than other children in
my class. I do not think that I was an arrogant child; I certainly did not discuss my status in the
classroom with my peers. I was acutely aware, however, that there existed a ‘pecking order’ of ability.
I knew who was in the ‘bottom group’.
It is only as I matured that I began to reflect upon how it might have felt to be in ‘that group’. I think I
always felt a sense of relief that I was safe from that stigma. My relief was short lived.
Secondary school was not a great experience for me. They say that ‘pride comes before a fall’, and I
spent five years trying to stop myself falling. Again, I was put into the ‘top set’; I could hardly keep up.
My self-esteem plummeted and I found myself living in fear that I would be moved down into another
set.
A 1997 study by Boaler found that students in a ‘setted’ school were significantly disadvantaged by
their separation into ability groups. One key finding was that:
Approximately one-third of students taught in the highest ability groups were disadvantaged
by their placement in these groups because of high expectations, fast-paced lessons, and
pressure to succeed. This particularly affected most able girls.
As a student teacher in the summer of 1984, I worked on a Government-initiated program to aid
people into employment. It was called Jobs Link and, on reflection, was a poorly organised and badly
resourced program. One of the first things to be made clear to me was that most – if not all – of the
people in the group had hated school. Borne out of this experience was my dissertation entitled ‘The
formation of negative attitudes towards school’.
I asked the group to write down why they had so vehemently disliked school. I still reflect on their
responses and feel a great sense of empathy towards them:
‘I was thick. I was in the bottom set for everything.’
‘I felt useless. The teachers thought I was stupid.’
It seemed like expectations were so low that there was little point in trying at school. I knew then and
I know now that, as a teacher, I never want to make a child feel that way.
Edel Traylen
The Project
I currently teach a Year Two class of 31 as part of a job share. Both my job share partner and
I are passionate about children’s writing. As a result of this shared enthusiasm, we decided early in
the year to teach with mixed ability groups in all of our English lessons.
In order to investigate the effects of mixed ability groupings, we established a group consisting
of three ‘higher achieving’ children mixed with three ‘lower achieving’ children. This group worked in
a quiet area with an adult to support them. The expectations for all of the children were the same;
they were told that they were all required to concentrate on producing great writing. Prior to this
study, we had already found that the ‘higher achieving’ children required motivation in order to strive
higher; without this, their work effort plateaued. Conversely, the ‘lower achieving’ children had been
making good progress. In the smaller group environment established by the investigation, both the
higher and lower achieving children were able to make accelerated progress – no doubt in part due to
a reduced number of distractions.
We did not create a control group alongside this ‘experimental group’, rather, the remainder
of the class too were already mixed in terms of their ability in our English lessons. The function of the
group being investigated was instead, firstly, to create a smaller, more-easily observable set of
children, and secondly, to change the dynamics of the working environment. It was a subtle attempt
to raise the self-esteem of the lower achieving children by compacting the mixed ability style of
grouping; making it more obvious to the lower achieving children that they were working directly
alongside the higher achieving children. The aim was to facilitate a change in their self-perceptions as
students and achievers. The project was therefore not one that lent itself well to comparative analysis,
but rather allowed for a great deal of reflective analysis. It is hugely beneficial to discuss children’s
writing in depth on a regular basis.
The class believe in themselves as writers; these children have, on occasion, astounded us.
Most rewarding, though, has been the fact that every child has made good progress in writing.
All children from the experimental group achieved well in their Year Two Summer Assessment.
All three lower achieving children scored a level 2C or above, whilst all three higher achieving children
scored a level 3C or above:
Child (lower
achieving)
AM
AM2
EW
Y1 Summer
Assessment
1A
1B+
1C+
Y2 Summer
Assessment
2B
2C
2C
Child (higher
achieving)
MW
IM
MG
Y1 Summer
Assessment
2B
2C+
2B
Y2 Summer
Assessment
3B
3C
3C
In line with this, the other children in the class made similar progress. Our reluctance to utilise
them as a control group segregated by their capacity for achievement likely contributed to this.
Other Observations
We are constantly aware of boys under-achieving in writing relative to girls of the same age.
We spent a great deal of time analysis boys’ writing this year – some of the most talented writers in
our class are male. Their biggest hindrance has proved to be a prevalence of poor fine motor skills i.e.
handwriting. We must look beyond this. All too often the ability of children is underestimated due to
teachers equating poor legibility with low capability. If teachers were to persevere and work through
pieces of work with admittedly-tedious handwriting, the results may prove to be – at times – quite
Edel Traylen
astounding. As teachers we must not do children a disservice by conflating motor skills with mental
ability. Both are important, but one should not hamstring the other. We must tell children how
wonderful they are – they might begin to believe it.
To conclude, the following is a piece of work by a Year Two student named Leon, aged seven.
It is entitled A Rainforest Story:
‘I walked through the forest gates of heaven. I surprised a dry rattle snake. It hissed like
screeching diamonds on thick, sapphire glass. I saw a fluffy monkey with emerald green eyes.
Then I felt the rush of a devil like mosquito. Then I saw an obsidian, a black panther. I came
through the rainforest of stunning creatures, all types. Then there was a blue, peaceful toucan.
I saw a clear, blue waterfall splashing from up above the strong, grey mountains. I crafted a
jungle wooden boat across the lake of fresh, blue, clear water. Then I went over to a cherry
tree. The cherries tasted like a juicy watermelon. I saw a speedy cheetah. It roared like
medieval kings shouting. Then I saw a vine made of crunchy bamboo. I swung across the
fascinating rainforest. I went through a hay town. There was no one there.’
Leon’s spelling and punctuation are good, however, his handwriting is very difficult to read. It takes
time and perseverance to read it through. His potential is not immediately obvious. We have to look
for it. Do we look for it in all children?
Child
LR
Y1 Summer
Assessment
1A
Y2 Summer
Assessment
2A
‘No matter what your ability is, effort is what ignites that ability and turns it into accomplishment’
- Carol Dweck
References
Boaler, Jo, no date, Students’ experiences of ability grouping-disaffection, polarisation and the
construction of failure.
Hildrew, Chris, 2014, My problem with ability.