Group Instruction in Primary Schools as Preparation for the Solution of Problem Assignments in Secondary Schools

Group instruction is a form of teaching which can help solve the question of preparing pupils for problem learning. This is helped by the socially psychological aspects of co-operation, which have a positive influence on the child’s learning, especially the opportunity to develop a new idea internally on the basis of a discussion with his fellow pupils. It is necessary for the pupils to get used to carrying out useful thinking operations on a given theme and thus acquire general intellectual skills, which will help them to develop their method of cognition. It is also necessary to take account of the pupils’ different abilities and to take this viewpoint into consideration not only when making up the groups but also when including the group instruction in teaching periods. The basic task in the preparation for the solution of problem assignments is to teach the pupils how to seek for the principle of the assignment and to understand the function of the »central information« round which the solution is supposed to be looked for. Several examples are given of different uses of group instruction within a teaching period showing deliberate management of the teaching process and of the pupils’ operative processes of thought.