| Abstract: | This article describes a decade of classroom research carried out in the United Kingdom at the University of Leicester. The ORACLE Project (Observational Research and Classroom Learning Evaluation) began in 1975 and consisted of two main projects. The first concerned a longitudinal process-product study of teaching and learning in the junior-age (7–11) classrooms while the second study concentrated on one particular aspect of the organization of these classrooms, collaborative group work. The major findings of both studies are described including the categorization of teaching styles and pupil types and the relationship between them. Evidence concerning the effectiveness of different teaching styles is also presented. More importantly, the article explores some of the possible reasons which might explain both teachers' and pupils' behaviour. It is suggested that process-product research still has an important part to play in the study of classrooms but that the outcome measures might, more usefully, concentrate on social factors affecting pupils' learning and the ways in which teachers can create supportive classroom climates rather than on the traditional measures of achievement. |
