Group Work

I found that chapter six “The Importance of Collaboration” was a valuable chapter for me, as I am sceptical about the effectiveness of group work. It begins by explain that, “Every one of us comes to the printed page with different prior knowledge and experiences, with different viewpoints and biases, with different insight and blind spots. (Gallagher, p.104) This statement really shows me why collaboration is important for learning opportunities. I do agree with this statement, but I also find myself recalling how much I have disliked group work as a student throughout my learning career.

In my field experience I see students ask their teacher if the assignment they have just been given could be done in partners, as they cling to their closest friends. I also see how lessons get pushed back because many students’ partners did not come to class that day. I see “hitchhiking” and dictating.

I found this chapter useful because it has some great example of making groups that I have never seen done before. These examples incorporate student accountability and diversity in the makeup of the groups which seem to be key components of successful group collaboration exercises. I particularly liked the “Conversation Log Exchanges” activity. Here the students are logging their thoughts and reflections and reading their peers in a conversation like piece. However, it is unique because their partners are in different periods who are also reading the same literature as them. It then appears to be an individual task, as the student is physically working on their own, but it is incorporating different prior knowledge and experiences, viewpoints, insights, and blind spots. I would like to use this activity if I get the chance to because it embraces the understanding that students bring different insights to the same piece of work, but it also allows for the individual to not limit their self by hitchhiking or dictating. In fact this blog is a little bit like the “Conversation Log Exchanges” activity, and I like that.