I've been enjoying the thoughtful and interesting posts on this week's articles, and I've been wondering about a couple of questions. I'd love to hear your opinions.
When teachers talk to me about their use of group work, they usually tell me two things.
- They think group work is helpful because it lets the 'strong' kids explain things to the 'weak' kids.
- They think group work is helpful because the teacher can go around and help the 'weak' kids individually, while the 'strong' students help each other.
I used to support group work with your reason 1 and still sometimes do because it helps with classroom management issues.
ReplyDeleteNow I like to focus on the discussions. I think that humans learn best orally -with opportunities for feedback and clarification. It is our first way of learning and it makes sense that we should be able to use it effectively.
Vygotsky's notion of sociocultural learning is an elaboration of this idea- learning from more knowledgable others. Group work can help both the 'weak' and the 'strong' student. The 'weak' student learns from the strong student, but may see something very differently that pushes the "strong' student to reconsider and consolodate what what he or she knows.
The act of articulating what you understand helps clarify what you know. In data management, I often find that as students compare what they see in data, both are pushed to examine the data more carefully and develop a richer understanding of the data and how it might be investigated.
Group work is something I believe, but I struggle to ensure that it is an effective tool for learning. I have to agree with others that the type of activity needs to be chosen very carefully in order to make sure that group work is effective. My challenge is timing. I am never exactly sure when to 'wrap up', especially during the more open-ended activities. Having read Dr. Sasha's note, I think I will need to incorporate a more formal debriefing time in order to make sure that the learning I am hoping to see has actually been done.
ReplyDeleteI wonder if sometimes I haven't thought out what I want to accomplish exactly with group work and that is why there have been times that it was not very successful. I also haven't incorporated roles into group work and that may help. I do believe that having students work together is a great way to have them learn to listen and respect each other as learners as well as teachers. I don't always group my students in mixed ability, which perhaps Boaler would disagree with. I have found that it is dependent on the activity I assign.
Another thing I wonder how often should we incorporate group work in our practice? I am not looking for the 'magic' number... I guess there is no right or wrong answer here. However, I do believe in order to foster the kind of relationships between the students as seen at Railside, it would definitely need to be done a lot. Are teachers comfortable with group work to make it part of their everyday practice?
I agree with DT, I like the opportunity that group work can provide for the 'strong' students to really take the time to articulate their understanding with others. If they can explain their knowledge in a way that another grasps the concept than both sides win - the strong student really shows his/her understanding of the material, and the one listening has learned too.
I too support group work in the light of the reasons you stated however, it is difficult yet essential to be able to distinguish group work from group talk.Students especially junior grades tend to get distracted fairly easily.Assuming that the stronger students are helping the weaker ones would be naive. It quite possible that the stronger students having had understood the concept are now engaging in conversations rather than teaching their peers. I would however like to rebutle my own point here by saying that students are very motivated to take on leadership roles and therefore majority of the times when approached to help other students to learn, they will carry out the task diligently.It would be crucial to on the part of the teacher to supervise these sessions to ensure productivity.
ReplyDeleteGroup work can sometimes lead to confusion too.I say this because a way in which one student understands is not similar to all.although the confusion might be good in the sense that it would force the stronger student to re-evaluate his/her understanding and figure out different ways to explan a topic whereby enhancing their own understanding in the process.
Group work definitely takes some stress off theteacher's shoulder as it is impossible to attend to every one of the 30 students during one period can be quite time and energy consuming.
Lastly, i feel that it is essential to sum-up every group work into a class discussion so that ideas can shared and everyone is included and benefits.
Thanks LM for reminding me of the importance of well structured group work for developing the relational equity discussed by Boaler. This is something I haven't done- largely because I am unsure how to start- but believe I should.
ReplyDeleteI keep thinking about group work in terms of our discussions around identity. I've noticed that some of my students got lost in large group discussions but had a voice in small group discussions. I think small group (2-4) work also provides a better environment (compared to whole class) for students to negotiate and construct their identities.
ReplyDeleteAs a classroom teacher, I used pairs and triads at lot. I do the same when working with groups of teachers. I find that all members can give and receive ideas with small numbers.
Having said that, I think establishing group norms is also a key factor to making group work, work. Very often we throw kids together and expect them to achieve a common goal but is surprised with it doesn't happen. There needs to be a lot of pre-planning and intentionality with using group work with students. It's the only time it has worked for me.
My experience with group work is that you usually have the student with the most interest and understanding doing the most work, while others just go along for the ride. I think that outline that Boaler suggests illustrate components of group work that would undoubtedly positively influence learning that occurs in a group situation. I think that the background in setting up the learning environment properly is important.
ReplyDeleteWith regards to the comments you refer to from teachers regarding strong students and weak students all I have to say about that is that I dislike classifying students along those lines. I have these feelings for 2 reasons:
1. I believe there is an underlying sentiment that the “strong” students are the only students that we’re working for and somehow more deserving.
2. The classification is demeaning and dehumanizing
I don’t think that it is an intentional slight by a teacher on anyone, but there is an underlying characterization using the terms “strong” or “weak” in this manner that suggest that the students can or cannot do the math and that this is inherent.
Hi MP,
ReplyDeleteYou make a great point about classifying students as strong or weak. Yes, teachers may keep students in these classifications, which is unfair and possible disheartening for those who may see themselves as weak with no possibility of improving, so in general we do need to be careful when using these two words.
I guess I have tended to look at these two words as fleeting characterisation of my students depending on the unit. I let my students know that they may not become experts in all areas, and that is okay - they are allowed strengths and weaknesses.
I am a fan of group work (or cooperative or collaborative work or whatever else you want to call it), but not for the reasons that you mentioned, Indigo. I agree with DT that students seem to learn well when given the opportunity for discussion, feedback, and clarification, but I find that some students are less comfortable than others in participating in full class discussions. However, I have seen many students who are often silent during class discussions become lively and active when they are in small groups. So I like to mix large group activities small group activities to give more students the opportunity to participate in a way that they find comfortable.
ReplyDeleteI can see the benefit of using group work to let students learn from each other, or provide teachers with an opportunity to talk with individual students. However, I remember being very frustrated as a student when it seemed that group members were often relying on me and other students they perceived as strong to teach them or do most of the work. I felt like teachers were pushing some of their responsibilities onto students. Now that I'm a teacher, I'm a little more sympathetic to the teachers who used group work to help us learn from each other, but I think it's often mishandled. I think that the key is to have truly collaborative tasks and multiple ways to be successful. This way, all students are contributing to the task, and all students are actually learning from each other.