Maurice Galton
Position/Status
- Senior Research/Teaching Fellow, Centre for Commonwealth Education
E-mail Address
mg266@cam.ac.uk
Phone
(+44) 01223 767512
Qualifications
- BSc, MSc, MEd, PhD
Membership of Professional Bodies/Associations
- Emeritus Professor, University of Leicester
- Visiting Professor, Hong Kong Institute of Education
Profile
Former Dean of Education and Continuing Education at the University of Leicester, joined Homerton College in 1999 and subsequently the Faculty of Education in 2001 as Associate Director of Research.
Professor Galton has conducted large and small scale research studies, mostly in UK primary and lower secondary schools. One aspect of these studies is the careful documentation of classroom practice and the way it changes over time. He is best known for a series of classroom studies (Observational and Classroom Learning Evaluation (ORACLE) began in the mid 1970s and continuing with a replication study two decades later. In the 1980s he was consultant for the Council of Europe on the Innovation in Primary Schools Project.
During the last two decades he has undertaken a number of evaluation studies for the then Teacher Training Agency (TTA) now TDA on links between research and classroom practice; for the UK Department of Education on transfer and on the relationship between grouping, group work and personalised learning; and for the National Union of Teachers (NUT) on teachers' workloads and the effects of inclusion policies.
Between 2002 and 2006 he co-directed a £1 million study on Grouping and Group work for The Teaching and Learning Research Programme (TLRP) and has recently completed a study of the pedagogy of resident artists in schools for Creative Partnerships and the Arts Council of Great Britain. He is now carrying out a review for the Nuffield Foundation on the effects of transfer and transition from primary school on pupils' wellbeing.
Professor Galton has considerable experience of Hong Kong schools. He was an 'Onlow Fellow' at the University of Hong Kong in 1992 and visiting professor at HKIEd from 1998-2002. He has been a consultant for the Hong Kong Department of Education (formerly EMB), first for the Curriculum Development Institute (2000-2004) and now for the Research and Assessment Department in a study of the effects of reducing class size in primary schools (2004-2008).
He was consultant to the Council of Europe (1982-87), National Curriculum Council (1989 and the National Council for Educational Technology (NCET) (1995-98).
He is currently collaborating in the Faculty's new Centre for Commonwealth Education on pedagogical initiatives in East Africa.
Research Topics
- Primary Classroom practice including the use of ICT
- Transfer from Primary to Secondary school
- Teacher Expertise
- Group work
- Personalised learning
Current Research Projects
- The effects of transfer and transition from primary school on pupils' wellbeing.
- Learning to Lead - pedagogy in East African schools
Publications
Galton, M. et al. (in press) Motivating Pupils in the Lower secondary school, London: SAGE Publications.
Galton, M. and MacBeath, J. (2008). Teachers under Pressure. London: SAGE/National Union of Teachers.
Galton, M. (2008 (June). 'Teachers under pressure: the impact of government policies on teachers' working lives.' Education Review 21(1): 39-48.
Galton, M. (2008) Creative Practitioners in schools and classrooms (Final report of the project: The Pedagogy of Creative Practitioners in Schools (1.2Mb). Cambridge: Creative Partnerships/Faculty of Education.
Galton, M. (2007). Learning and Teaching in the Primary Classroom . London, SAGE Publications.
Galton, M., Sebba, J., N. Brown, et al. (2007). An Investigation of Personalised Learning Approaches used by Schools, DfES.
Galton, M. et al. (2007). Promoting Group Work at Key Stage 3: Solving an attitudinal Crisis among young adolescents?' Research Papers in Education, 22 (3): 309-332.
MacBeath, J., M. Galton, et al. (2006). The Costs of Inclusion: A Report commissioned by the National Union of Teachers concerning inclusion in schools. Cambridge, University of Cambridge.
Galton, M., Kutnick, P., S. Hodgkinson, et al. (2006). Pupil Grouping Strategies and Practices at Key Stage 2 and 3: Case Studies of 24 Schools in England. Research Report 796 . London, DfES: pp 92.
Maurice Galton and John MacBeath with Susan Steward, Charlotte Page and Janet Edwards. (2004) 'A Life in Secondary Teaching: Finding Time for Learning' (pdf file 2.3Mb), Cambridge: Cambridge Printing (Report for National Union of Teachers) .
Galton, M., Gray, J and Rudduck, J. (2003) Transfer and Transition in the Middle Years of Schooling (7-14): Continuities and Discontinuities In Learning, Research Report 443, Annesley, Department of Education and Science.
Galton, M., J. MacBeath, et al. (2002). A Life in Teaching? The Impact of Change on Primary Teachers' Working Lives (1Mb). London, University of Cambridge/National Union of Teachers: pp 92.
Galton, M. and Hargreaves, L. (January 2002) 'Transfer from the Primary School: 20 Years On'. London: Routledge.
Galton, M., Hargreaves, L., Comber, C., Pell, T, and Wall, D. (1999) 'Inside the Primary Classroom: 20 Years On', London: Routledge.
Galton, M. (1995) 'Crisis in the Primary Classroom'. London: David Fulton Publishers.
Galton, M. and Moon, R. (eds) (1994) 'Handbook of Teacher Education in Europe', London: David Fulton for the Council of Europe.
Galton, M. and Williamson, J. (1992) 'Group Work in the Primary Classroom'. London: Routledge.
Galton, M. and Patrick, H. (1990) 'Curriculum Provision in the Small Primary School'. London: Routledge.
Galton, M. (1989) 'Teaching in the Primary School'. London: David Fulton Publishers.
Galton, M. and Blyth, A. (1989) (eds) 'Handbook of Primary Education in Europe'. London: David Fulton Publishers for the Council of Europe.
Galton, M., Simon, B. and Croll, P. (1980) 'Inside the Primary Classroom'. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Galton, M. and Simon, B. (eds) (1980) 'Progress and Performance in the Primary Classroom'. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.