Abstract
In recent years approaches to children’s school progress are one step removed from the proximal processes which directly affect learning. Yet educational initiatives are unlikely to work well if there is not a prior understanding of the everyday contextual and relational dimensions of classrooms. On the basis of a review of our long-standing research programmes at the Institute of Education (IOE), and building in particular on ecological psychology, I propose a new eco-relational approach that has three dimensions: first, the influence of the immediate classroom context, in terms of, for axample, organisation into groups and interactional contexts; second, relationships in the classroom between teachers and pupils and between pupils; and third, ways contextual and relational elements are aligned or not in the complex interconnected and dynamic nature of the classroom system. I use our SPRinG project to show how an eco-relational approach can help realise the pedagogical potential of group work and benefit learning.
Publisher
British Psychological Society
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