What teachers think about small-group teaching

A questionnaire assessing attitudes toward small-group teaching (SGT) was administered to 442 elementary and secondary school teachers from 26 randomly selected schools in Israel. Data was collected on teachers’ prior experience with SGT, their knowledge of the basic characteristics of this approach and their perception of colleagues’ support for the use of innovative teaching techniques. Teachers expressed somewhat negative attitudes toward SGT on a scale dealing with teacher control of the class, but they were distinctly positive on a scale about the efficiency of SGT for presenting subject matter, and most positive regarding the effect of SGT on pupil development. Teachers experienced with SGT were more positive on 2 out of 3 attitude scales than were those with no experience. Data from measures of teachers’ understanding of SGT characteristics, their perception of colleagual support for innovative teaching and prior experience with SGT accounted for 30 per cent of the variance {canonical R = 0-55) in their responses to the three attitude scales. Findings were discussed in terms of their implications for a model of instructional innovation.