One size fits all? A closer look at classroom numbers | Research for the Real World

Less is more? The back and forth over class sizes has been an enduring debate amongst many in the teaching profession. Professor Emeritus Peter Blatchford calls for a fresh look at the issue. An IOE veteran of three decades, Professor Blatchford shares with Dr Humera Iqbal his early experiences cutting his teeth in longitudinal research at the Thomas Coram Research Unit, teacher training, and his key focus, unpacking the findings of the world’s biggest study into the effects of class size as well as two decades’ of research and review. This forms the basis of Professor Blatchford and Dr Anthony Russell’s book ‘Rethinking Class Size: The complex story of impact on teaching and learning’, which examines how class size affects many areas of the pupil and teaching experience and outcomes. Dr Iqbal also finds out how and why the gap in views of class size effects exist, the implications the research has for policy and practice, and to what extent this needs to be examined in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Full show notes and links: https://www.ucl.ac.uk/ioe/news/2020/nov/one-size-fits-all-closer-look-classroom-numbers-rftrw-s06e02 Please take our 2-minute podcast survey and let us know what you'd like to hear on future episodes: https://bit.ly/rftrw-survey