Managing Group Work

Managing Group Work

1. TYPES OF TALK

   • Influenced by
     • context
       • where the communication is taking place
     • audience
       • who we are communicating with and to what purpose will shape how we interact
     • purpose
       • what we say and how we say it
   • formal language
     • is rehearsed, polished and quite formal.
   • Informal language
     • is exploratory, unrehearsed, and messy.
       • characterized by
         • false starts, repetitions, pauses, overlaps, and interruptions.

2. MANAGING SMALL GROUP WORK

   • Appropriate and properly organized group work encourages

3. GROUP TYPES AND PURPOSES

   • Types of groups
     • Resource group
       • Students sit together to share resources, but achieve individual learning goals.
     • Cooperative group
       • Students work separately, but relate tasks to achieve a group goal.
     • Collaborative group
       • Students do tasks together to achieve a group goal.
     • Other types
       • •Friendship • Mutual interest • Mixed interest • Targeted • Mixed attainers • Selected attainers
   • Types of task
     • Discussion task
       • It is very important that ideas are exchanged and that the topic discussed can be interpretative or controversial.
         • The outcome may be a group decision or consensus or the development of individual interactive skills and cognitive understanding.
     • Problem-solving task
       • Several alternatives can be critically evaluated, such as sequencing, prediction or suppression activity.
         • The outcome may require a group consensus or individual decisions that are reached after group discussion
     • Production task
       • Students work collaboratively to produce a group response

4. INTRODUCING GROUP WORK TO THE CLASS

   • Getting children to value group work
     • It is important that children value learning from group work. At the beginning they are instructed to work independently and after a while they are encouraged to talk by exchanging ideas.
   • Establishing ground rules
     • It is important to establish basic rules for group interaction. At first, the students choose 6 basic rules and then with the whole class we decide on a set of rules.
   • Stages in group discussions
     • Group discussions have several stages, but vary depending on the type of group, the purpose of the task, and the children involved.
       • Forming
         • Group members know each other and derive their roles in the group
       • Norming
         • When group members understand the objective of the task. The rules imposed and the behaviour to continue working in the group are clarified.
       • Performing
         • Group members focus on the task at hand and begin to participate effectively.
       • Adjourning
         • Final discussion of the group experience and reflections on it.
       • Storming
         • Group members will give their personal opinions and social agreements will be reached. Conflicts may arise, and here the children will stop showing interest in group work.

5. THE ROLE OF THE TEACHER

   • Teacher
     • The teacher does not have full knowledge of the group, therefore he or she needs to give clear explanations, concrete instructions and must give the students the reasons for working in the group.
     • As for the teacher's role (norming), he must find a way to always give the rules of group work. To finish the teacher (adjourning) must make a reflection and must support the processes that are still not clear.
   • Ensuring participation
     • It is important that all students participate in the group work, many times some students block when the activity is difficult or very long, or those who are more outstanding refuse because it is too easy or goes at a very slow pace.
     • Group members simply discuss their own point of view, but do not consider those of others. Learning to talk and learning to listen when someone else is talking begins at an early age through role-playing. Mercer (1996: 225)
   • Student
     • In this stage (storming) children tend to make themselves known and want their contributions to be the only important ones. In the next stage (perfoming) children should interact effectively and with respect.

6. CLASSROOM LAYOUT AND RESOURCES

   • When children are able to work in groups, an interaction is possible in which they explore, speculate, interrogate, and formulate hypotheses; but, sometimes this organization is not productive because students work independently, they do not see the importance in building group learning, and teachers cannot evaluate the process that students are having.

7. EVALUATING THE QUALITY OF GROUP INTERACTION

   • It is necessary to be clear about the objectives, the purpose of the task and the type of working group, in order to assess the quality of interaction
     • Example: The task is for the children to question and evaluate a text, what the teacher is looking for with this is evidence of collaboration, interaction, exploratory language and the development of the children's understanding.

8. MONITORING PROGRESS AND ACHIEVEMENT IN GROUP WORK

   • It shows the importance of the speech and listening process in identifying achievements; on the other hand, self-evaluation is important for children because it encourages them to assess their own and others' contributions.

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