positive attitudes, while those teaching English, the humanities, and the arts held the
most negative.
Teachers' beliefs about teaching different ability groups affect their expectations of
students and the way that they teach (Barker-Lunn, 1970; Hallam and Ireson, 2005)
and their interactions with students. Their attitudes can contribute to the alienation of
pupils in low ability groups. Pupils from high ability groups tend to exhibit pro-social
behaviour and it is this, rather than their academic achievement, which seems to shape
teachers' behaviour towards them (Hargreaves, 1967; Lacey, 1970; Ball, 1981; Finley,
1984). Teachers interact with high ability groups more frequently and positively than
they do with low ability groups (Harlen and Malcolm, 1997; Sorenson and Hallinan,
1986; Gamoran and Berends, 1987). However, in some schools, presumably where
the ethos is supportive of pupils of all abilities, there is evidence that teachers of low
stream students do view them positively (Burgess, 1983, 1984).
This paper seeks to further explore these issues in relation to subjects which are
practically based i.e. art, music, drama and PE. In these subjects learning outcomes,
generally, are not based on written materials. Alternative means of assessment are
adopted which may involve active performance or the presentation of a portfolio of
work. Previous research into ability grouping has tended not to consider these subjects
separately. Art, music and drama have tended to be grouped together as ‘the arts’ and
Physical Education (PE) has generally not been included in the research. In schools
these subjects are rarely grouped by ability and where they are taught in ability groups
those groups are usually based on classifications derived from more ‘academic’
subject groupings. While previous research has tended to suggest that teachers of the
arts favour mixed ability groupings, a weakness has been that their attitudes have been
assessed collectively not taking account of possible differences. This research