Successful group work - Necessary teachers' actions and thought processes

This study investigates effects of teachers' actions and thought processes on the quality of group work. Forty lessons of ten teachers were observed a nd videotaped. The subjective theories of these teachers were reconstructed through a special method using stimulated recall, interview, graphic repre sentation and "communicative validation". We were able to show that signifi cant relations exist between the subjective knowledge of teachers on the on e hand and their successful practice of group work on the other hand. The s ubjective theories of the more successful teachers were different in conten t and structure from those of the less successful teachers.