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Section 6 Questionnaire Enquiries
Pupil questionnaire enquiries
6.1 Eight different pupil questionnaires were developed for use across the stages, four focusing on English Language and four on Mathematics. Completed questionnaires were received from a total of more than 26,000 pupils: 750-800 pupils at each primary stage in each area, and 650-750 for S2.
6.2 Among other issues, the questionnaires included enquiries into pupils' first and second languages, their learning resources at home, their job aspirations, their perceptions of the value of language and maths to those working in various occupations, their enjoyment of subject learning and perceptions of subject importance, and their perceptions about the nature of their subject lessons.
6.3 More than nine out of ten pupils reported English as their first language, with numerous other languages mentioned by small numbers of pupils. When presented (in the English language questionnaires) with a list of languages and asked to order them in importance, more than nine out of ten pupils at every stage identified English as the most important language in their perception. French was considered the second most important language by around half the pupils. Nearly two-thirds of the primary pupils thought 'everyone should learn' a second language, the figure falling to around half of S2.
6.4 At home, nearly three-quarters of the pupils claimed to have access to a quiet place to work and to a computer, and had a dictionary and calculator available. Just under two-thirds had internet access at home. Among the primary pupils, between seven and eight out of ten belonged to at least one out-of-school club or group - sports, cultural, etc - dropping to six in ten at S2. Among primary pupils, clubs/groups were more popular among girls than boys, with the reverse holding at S2.
6.5 Job aspirations were many and varied. But 'footballer' was way ahead in popularity among the primary boys, with around a quarter of them mentioning this (see Figure 10). By S2 the attraction of football as a career had waned, with only one in twenty mentioning it among the boys. Among the primary girls 'teacher' (one in five mentioned it at P3, one in seven at P5, one in ten at P7), 'hairdresser' and 'vet' (one in ten mentioned each) were the most frequently mentioned occupations; again popularity fell by S2 (to one in ten for teacher and one in twenty for hairdresser and vet), presumably as pupils' awareness of a wider range of occupations increased and their job aspirations matured.
Figure 10
Gender typing in early job aspirations
(% pupils mentioning the most popular 'jobs')
6.6 Pupils' perceptions of the importance of the different language skills (reading, writing, listening, talking), and of mathematics, to those working in various occupations are illuminating. For example, while all four language skills and mathematics were considered very important for doctors, bankers and accountants, language skills were judged more important than mathematics for doctors, with the reverse holding for bankers and accountants. For plumbers, mechanics and electricians, while all the skills were considered less important than for doctors, bankers and accountants, reading, listening and mathematics were judged more important than writing and talking.
English Language learning
6.7 Pupils' reports on their activities in English lessons (P5, P7, S2 - not explored at P3) fairly closely matched those of their teachers, particularly at S2. As Figure 11 shows, in both sectors the most frequent activities were being taught as a class (seven out of ten of primary pupils reporting this as happening 'during most lessons' compared with eight out of ten of the S2 pupils), writing in their jotters or files (eight out of ten at each stage), and working on their own (seven out of ten at each stage). Just under two-thirds of the primary pupils and one third of the S2 pupils also reported reading textbooks or reference books and completing worksheets in most lessons.
Figure 11
English lesson activity profiles according to the pupils
(% pupils giving the indicated response to the question
"In English language lessons, how often do you spend your time…?")
6.8 According to the pupils, group teaching was much less common at S2 than in the primary school: around one third of the P5/P7 pupils reporting being taught in a group 'during most lessons', compared with around one in twenty of the S2 pupils. Working in a small group or with a partner, with or without a computer, were also less common at S2 than at P5/P7.
6.9 A high proportion of pupils at every stage - just under two-thirds - reported that their corrected work in English 'always' showed them where they had gone wrong. Across the stages, between half and two-thirds of pupils also agreed that they were 'always' shown how to improve their work and were given extra help when they needed it. Involvement in planning next steps in learning, though, was not particularly widespread: around a quarter of the P3 pupils agreed that they 'always' helped to plan next steps, compared with under one fifth at the other stages (it should be noted that the meaning of 'planning next steps' might have been less clear to pupils than other statements).
6.10 Progress in English was given as levels, grades and test scores 'always', according to around two fifths of the P5/P7 pupils (not asked at P3) and well over half of the pupils at S2. Pupils' self assessments tended to become less positive with age. While around two-thirds of the pupils at each stage estimated their own language ability as good/above average to exceptional/very good, the proportions estimating it as exceptional/very good dropped by roughly ten percentage points per stage, from just over four in ten at P3 to just over one in ten at S2, as Figure 12 shows. The proportions of pupils claiming that they didn't know how good they were also decreased with increasing age.
Figure 12
Pupils' self assessments in English language
(% pupils giving the indicated response to the question
"How good do you think you are at English language?"*)
6.11 Around two-thirds of the pupils at each stage claimed to use their language skills in other areas of the curriculum 'during most lessons'.
6.12 Two-thirds or more of pupils at all stages thought learning English language important in helping with future learning in other subjects, and even higher proportions (around three-quarters) thought the subject useful for finding 'good jobs later on'. Not surprisingly, therefore, around eight out of ten pupils, on average, claimed to want to do well in English, although the proportions claiming 'always' to work hard in the subject fell from just under two-thirds at P3/P5 to under half at P7/S2. Just under six in ten of the P3 pupils reported finding English easy to understand, compared with around four in ten at the other stages.
6.13 As far as subject enjoyment is concerned, the evidence is that this decreases as pupils move through their schooling: almost half the P3 pupils claimed 'always' to look forward to their English lessons, dropping to under a third at P5, under a fifth at P7, to one in ten at S2.
6.14 Enjoyment of reading within English lessons also decreased with increasing age, from nearly two-thirds of P5 pupils claiming 'always' to enjoy reading, falling to around four in ten at P7 to fewer than three in ten at S2 (not asked at P3). On the other hand, three-quarters or more of the pupils claimed to read at home for pleasure 'most days' or 'most weeks'. Two-thirds of the primary pupils falling to around half the S2 pupils also claimed to spend time most days or most weeks writing at home 'other than for school'. Both reading and writing were more frequent home activities among girls than boys, on their own reports.
6.15 Most pupils claimed to enjoy reading novels/stories (six in ten at P3 falling to around four in ten at other stages), magazines (the proportions increasing with age, from four in ten at P3 to around seven in ten at S2), comics (around four in ten) and sports articles (around a third). The most popular types of writing emerged as stories (over half the primary pupils compared with around four in ten of the S2 pupils), letters (two to three in ten at each stage) and poems (nearly a quarter at primary level dropping to around one tenth at S2). As might be expected, there were gender differences in reading and writing preferences. Girls more than boys preferred reading stories, newspapers/magazines and music books, the boys in greater numbers preferring comics and sports articles. The girls more than the boys preferred writing stories and poems. One in five boys answered 'none of these' to the writing choices offered, compared with one in ten of the girls.
Mathematics learning
6.16 The most frequent activities in mathematics lessons would appear from pupils' reports to be broadly similar to those in their English lessons, with some variation here and there (see Figure 13). High proportions of pupils at all stages (up to nine out of ten) reported spending time 'during most lessons' writing in their jotters or files, working alone (seven to eight out of ten) and reading textbooks or reference books (around two-thirds at P5/P7, and slightly fewer at S2). Just under six in ten of the primary pupils also reported completing worksheets during most lessons: here the S2 proportion is significantly lower at four in ten of the pupils.
Figure 13
Mathematics lesson activity profiles according to the pupils
(% pupils giving the indicated response to the question
"In Mathematics lessons, how often do you spend your time…?")
6.17 Class teaching was less common in the primary classroom than it was at S2, with just under two-thirds of the primary pupils claiming to spend time being taught as a class during most lessons compared with four fifths of the S2 pupils. Group teaching, on the other hand, was very much more common in the primary school: almost four in ten of the primary pupils reported being taught in a group for some time during most lessons compared with just one in twenty of the pupils in S2.
6.18 On the basis of the pupil reports, the pattern of group and class teaching would seem to be identical in mathematics and English at S2, but group teaching is more common and class teaching less common in mathematics than in English in the primary sector. On the other hand, the amount of time pupils spend working in small groups or with a partner on shared tasks is about the same in the two subjects (around one in five primary pupils and one in ten of S2 pupils reporting doing this during most lessons, the proportions falling to around one in ten and fewer than one in twenty for time spent working at a computer with a partner or small group).
6.19 Just under two-thirds of the primary pupils and half of the S2 pupils agreed that their corrected work 'always' showed them where they had gone wrong (a lower figure than for English at S2), while just under two-thirds of the P5 pupils and half the P7/S2 pupils also thought that they were always shown how improve their work (a similar pattern to English). The majority of pupils at P5 and P7 (just under two-thirds and just over two-thirds respectively) agreed that they were always given extra help when they needed it - the proportion again fell to one half at S2 (a similar pattern to English).
6.20 The proportions of pupils claiming that the information they received on their progress in mathematics came in the form of levels, grades or test scores were also similar to those for English: just over four in ten at P5, just under five in ten at P7 and nearly six in ten at S2 (there was no question about self assessment in mathematics). In the primary sector up to a quarter of the pupils agreed that they were 'always' asked to help plan their next steps in learning, falling to fewer than one in ten at S2 (this latter figure is markedly lower than that for English, which was nearly one in five).
6.21 At all stages, the evidence is that mathematics and English were seen as equally important in helping pupils to get good jobs in their future lives (three-quarters or more of the pupils giving the most positive response to the statement 'Learning Mathematics will help me to get a good job later on'). Both subjects were also considered by primary pupils as equally important for future learning in other subjects: around two-thirds of the P3 pupils and nearly three-quarters of those at P5 and P7 strongly agreed that 'learning Mathematics is important because it will help with other school subjects later on'. At S2, though, the proportion of pupils giving the most positive response fell to just under six in ten, compared with nearly seven in ten for English.
6.22 S2 pupils' lower enthusiasm for mathematics learning was also evident in their responses to other statements. For example, while between eight and nine in ten of the primary pupils agreed that they wanted to do well in mathematics, just seven in ten of the S2 pupils gave the same response. Again, while between five and six in ten of the primary pupils claimed that they 'always' worked hard in mathematics lessons, fewer than four in ten of the S2 pupils agreed. In addition to being lower than that of their primary peers, S2 enthusiasm for mathematics learning is also evidently lower than their own enthusiasm for English learning, despite their perceptions of the equal importance of both subjects for future occupations.
6.23 Interestingly, higher proportions of primary pupils claimed 'always' to look forward to their mathematics lessons than had done so for English, but enthusiasm again steadily fell with increasing age (from well over half at P3 through just under two fifths at P5, just under a quarter at P7 to only one in twenty at S2).
6.24 At all stages lower proportions of pupils thought mathematics an easy subject to learn compared with English: just under two fifths at P3, through one third at P5 and a quarter at P7, to one fifth at S2. Asked to rate the relative difficulty of various topics, 'tables, graphs and charts' and 'shape and symmetry' were considered the easiest (rated 'very easy' by over half the P5/P7 pupils and around just under half of those at S2), followed by 'number work' and 'angles' (a third or more across the stages) and `maps and coordinates' (around a third). 'Problem solving' was considered quite difficult at every stage (a quarter or fewer of the pupils rating this 'very easy'). 'Algebra' was considered by around a quarter of the S2 pupils as 'very easy' and as 'quite easy' by nearly a half; as might be expected, two-thirds of the P5 pupils could not offer a view here, and neither could almost two fifths of the pupils at P7.
6.25 Equipment use was also explored in the mathematics questionnaire. Rulers were frequently used in mathematics lessons ('during most lesson' being the response of nearly three-quarters of the pupils at each stage), with calculators also quite often used at S2 (nearly a third 'during most lessons', but one in ten or fewer at P5/P7). Protractors or 'angle measures' were little used at P5, while metre sticks and measuring tapes, scales, balances and weights, cubes and 2D/3D shapes were much less frequently used at S2 than at the primary stages. Measuring cylinders, tiles and nets were little used at any stage (between four and six in ten claiming to use these 'once a year or less').
Teacher questionnaire enquiries
6.26 A teacher questionnaire was developed for administration to class teachers at P3, P5 and P7 and to subject teachers at S2. Enquiries included frequency use of various teaching resources, opinions about pupils' lesson attendance, motivation to learn and behaviour in class, and information about lesson activities. There were two subject-specific versions of the questionnaire, one focusing on English Language teaching and learning and the other on mathematics teaching and learning. Within each subject questionnaire were four variations, addressing the same enquiries to one or other of the four pupil stages.
6.27 The various versions of the questionnaire were distributed to schools in such a way that they could be responded to by similarly representative samples of primary teachers and of secondary subject teachers, as appropriate. In the event, over 2,000 teachers returned completed questionnaires, comprising more than 1,600 primary class teachers from over 800 primary schools and around 500 S2 subject teachers from around 150 secondary schools (250-300 teacher respondents per stage per subject area).
6.28 More than nine out of ten of the teachers who responded to the primary questionnaires were female, compared with around three-quarters of the secondary English teachers and just over half of the secondary mathematics teachers. In both sectors and both subject areas, around eight out of ten of the teachers had been teaching for more than five years, while one in twenty of them were in their first year of teaching. Also in both sectors and both subject areas, just under two-thirds of the teachers had been in their current posts for more than five years; one in ten at S2 compared with one in seven of primary colleagues took up their current posts that year.
6.29 Just under nine out of ten of the subject teachers at S2 reported spending less than five hours a week teaching English or mathematics at S2, compared with just under two-thirds of the primary teachers with respect to mathematics and one third with respect to English. Thus, primary teachers spent more time teaching English than mathematics, and they spent more time teaching either subject than did their secondary colleagues. Preparation time was virtually the same across sectors and subjects: around nine in ten of each group reported spending up to five hours on this.
6.30 Experience of professional development varied across subjects within each sector, and across sectors. Around eight in ten of the primary teachers had benefited from professional development in English during the previous two years, compared with around six in ten in mathematics. At S2, two-thirds of the English teachers had had professional development in the period compared with a higher nine out of ten of the mathematics teachers. While just under three-quarters of the primary teachers claimed to be satisfied with their professional development opportunities, the proportion fell to one half at S2. Among primary teachers, those teaching P3 were significantly more satisfied than their colleagues with their professional development opportunities in English, though not in mathematics.
6.31 Resource use in teaching varied across sectors and subjects. Commercial textbooks and/or resource packs were used more frequently than other resources in primary English and mathematics classrooms and in S2 English lessons: eight out of ten of the primary teachers agreed that they used these 'during most lessons' in mathematics with just over half responding the same way for English; corresponding figures are just over one in ten and more than nine in ten for mathematics and English at S2.
6.32 The 5-14 National Guidelines were being used in most lessons by around half the teachers in both subject areas in the primary school, and by just over half in Mathematics at S2, with a lower one third using them this often in S2 English lessons. Secondary teachers in both subject areas made more use of their own teaching materials or their own school's materials than did the primary teachers. Materials produced by another authority, another school or other teachers were little used in either subject or sector.
6.33 Class teaching was much more prevalent in the S2 classroom than in the primary classroom (see Figure 14) and more common in S2 mathematics than in S2 English (more than nine in ten of the S2 mathematics teachers, more than six in ten of the S2 English teachers, and around four in ten of the primary teachers - for both subjects - reported this as occurring 'during most lessons'). Group teaching, on the other hand, was most common in primary classrooms, and particularly in mathematics lessons (nearly three-quarters of the primary teachers reported this as occurring 'during most lessons' for mathematics and just over a half for English, compared with around one in twenty of S2 teachers in each subject area). P3 teachers engaged in class teaching significantly more often than their primary colleagues.
Figure 14
Lesson activity profiles according to the teachers
(% teachers giving the response 'during most lessons' to the question
"For [subject] at [stage], how often do pupils spend time…?")
6.34 On the teachers' reports, the most frequent lesson activities at all stages were working alone (from around two fifths responding 'during most lessons' for English in the primary school to four fifths for mathematics), writing in their jotters or files (just under three-quarters in general, rising to more than nine tenths for mathematics at S2), reading textbooks or reference books (just under a third and a fifth for English at primary and S2, respectively, and around two fifths for mathematics in each sector), talking one to one with the teacher (up to one fifth for English, around one third for mathematics), and talking to other pupils about their topic (up to a fifth in each sector and subject area). Completing worksheets was also fairly common in the primary sector (a fifth of teachers answering 'during most lessons'), but less so at S2 (one tenth). P3 pupils, on their teachers' reports, spent significantly more time than others in both subject areas completing worksheets, handling objects and artefacts and watching video or listening to audio; in mathematics they spent significantly less time than P5/P7 pupils reading reference books and writing in their jotters.
6.35 Working in the schools grounds and visiting places outside the school were particularly rare at S2 in both subject areas. 'Using tools and instruments to investigate things', 'handling objects and artefacts' were even less common in English classrooms than in mathematics, while multimedia use was far less common in mathematics than in English.
6.36 The primary teachers were more positive than their secondary colleagues in their ratings of pupils' lesson attendance, learning motivation and in-class behaviour (almost all of the primary teachers judged each aspect as 'very good' or 'good', with 'very good' ratings of around two-thirds for lesson attendance and under half for motivation and behaviour). At S2, 'very good' ratings were given by just under half of the teachers for lesson attendance (higher in English than mathematics), one fifth for learning motivation and just under a quarter for class behaviour; over a fifth of the S2 mathematics teachers gave 'poor' or 'very poor' ratings for learning motivation (see Figure 15).
Figure 15
Teachers' ratings of pupils' lesson attendance, learning motivation and behaviour at S2
(% teachers giving each rating)
6.37 Only for pupil motivation to learn was there a stage-related difference in the primary sector, forming part of a clear negative trend from P3 to S2 in both subject areas: the percentages of teachers rating learning motivation as 'very good' fell from just over half at P3 through under half at P5 and two fifths at P7 to one fifth at S2 (see Figure 16).
Figure 16
Teachers' ratings of pupils' learning motivation
(% teachers giving each rating)
6.38 Over nine out of ten of the respondents in both sectors and subject areas reported using 5-14 National Assessments at most once or twice a term, and they were less frequently used in mathematics than in English classrooms (three to four in ten of teachers reported using these 'once a year or less' in English compared with five-six in ten in mathematics).
6.39 Where national assessments were used by teachers, patterns of use differed markedly between the sectors. In particular, the majority of primary teachers - around seven out of ten in each subject area - used national assessments 'always' or 'sometimes' with individual pupils or with pupil groups, when they judged them to be ready, and 'never' with the whole class. At S2, just over one in ten of mathematics teachers and almost two in ten of English teachers reported 'sometimes' using national assessments with individual pupils, or with pupil groups or with the whole class (when judged ready or at set times), while over one in seven of mathematics teachers and just over one in twenty of English teachers used them exclusively with the whole class at set times.
6.40 There were significant differences between sectors, and between reading and numeracy on the one hand and writing on the other, in the degree of agreement between national assessment results and teachers' own level judgements (see Figure 17). While over half the primary teachers agreed that the results of national assessments in reading and mathematics coincided with their own judgements in 'almost all' cases, the corresponding proportion for writing was just one in twenty. At S2 just over a third of the teachers agreed that test results coincided with their own judgements for 'almost all' pupils in all three areas. This finding reflects the actual judgements about levels made by teachers in reading and mathematics compared with the survey results (see sections 2 and 4).
Figure 17
Teachers' reports on the coincidence of national assessment results with their own judgements
(% teachers indicating the proportion of pupils for whom test results and their own level judgements were the same)
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