Аннотация:An English study of cognitive matching in the early or infant stages of primary education indicated high levels of mismatch between pupils and the tasks allo-• cated to them in an individualised style of class management.This was con firmed in the first phase of a Scottish study of differentiation and learning in primary classes.A further phase of the same project here considers the aims and strategies of 16 recommended early stages teachers through observation and interview.Their 'good practice' emphasised active learning and the promotion of social confidence.Pupil self-management was encouraged within a context of indirect control by teachers, while the individual emphasis in learning was modified by group and whole-class teaching.With reference to the evidence on mismatch, 'recording' tasks in mathematics and language were seen by these teachers as the practice of skills already internalised through active learning.Since most of the tasks used to establish mismatch have come from written mathematics and language this casts doubt on the claim that children experience an insufficiently differentiated curriculum.
