The good, the bad and the *shudder*:How to plan for effective group work

James Mannion

PhD student, University of Cambridge

Lead Professional for Science, Varndean School, Brighton

pedagoginthemachine.wordpress.com

@pedagog_machine

Statement 1

“I have used group work previously”

Yes / No

Statement 2

“In my experience, group work is an effective tool in the classroom”

Yes / No

Statement 3

“I have encountered behavioural problems when using group work”

Yes / No

The good

The good

The bad

The bad

The *shudder*

“We subject learners to group work because it ‘develops the skills needed later in life’, except it really doesn’t”.

– Ros McMullen (https://principalprivate.wordpress.com)

“Group work: I hate the concept, as I hate hell, all Montagues and thee. I bite my thumb at it… An efficient way to learn? Not so much”

– Tom Bennett (Consider this a divorce, The TES, 5/9/2014).

“Whenever I am asked where the group work is in my lessons, I respond with the same answer. The class have

been put into a group of 30, and their group task is to listen to the teacher and to work in silence”.

– Robert Peal (https://goodbyemisterhunter.wordpress.com/)

1. Why should we use GW?• Naturally lends itself to some tasks

(e.g. Science, PE, Music)

• Develop interpersonal skills– Speaking and listening

– Emotional ‘literacy’

– Conflict resolution

– Humour (v important!)

– Learning to like and be liked

• Effective at developing knowledge (when done well – e.g. QOTD lesson panel)

• Allows the teacher to observe, engage 1 to 1

• Students enjoy listening to one another (shock horror!)

• Good preparation for life beyond the school gates

2. Why/when shouldn’t we use GW?

3. So – how can we make GW effective?

• Some tasks don’t lend themselves to it

• It can be difficult to manage the power dynamic

– Gives students an opportunity to engage in off-task behaviour

– Hard to “get them back” once they’ve started talking about more interesting things!

• Some people associate GW with ‘discovery learning’, which v. inefficient when covering curriculum content, (cognitive load theory – if you aren’t familiar, look it up!)

First we need to understand: What does the research literature say about group work?

• Many wide-ranging reviews (e.g. Slavin, 1983, 2010; Howe, 2010) paint a mixed picture of group work:

“When it is good,it is very, very good.And when it is bad,

It is horrid”

Why the mixed picture?

So – how can we make group work effective?

• Slavin identified two “essential conditions’ for effective GW:

1. Group goal / group rewards2. Individual accountability

• Q: If ‘how to do effective GW’ was discovered in the 1980s, why does group work have such a bad rep?– Ans 1: The research hasn’t “filtered through” to teachers. – Ans 2: It may not be immediately obvious what these “core conditions”

actually look like in the classroom. – Ans 3: some bad ideas – eg dubious group roles (encourager anyone?!!)

• Q: So – what do teachers actually have to do in order to make GW effective?– Ans: First we need to understand that children (like all people) talk to

each other in different ways…

How do children talk together?

• Mercer et al (e.g. 1987, 2010, 2013)

• 3 categories of classroom talk:

– Disputational

– Cumulative

– Exploratory

Disputational talk

• Lot of disagreement – pupils just make their own decisions.

• Few attempts to pool resources, or offer constructive criticism.

• Lot of interactions of the 'Yes it is! – No it's not!' kind.

• Atmosphere is competitive rather than co-operative.

Cumulative talk

• Everyone simply accepts and agree with what other people say.

• The talk ‘stacks up’ – pupils do use talk to share knowledge, but they do so in an uncritical way

• Pupils repeat and may elaborate each other's ideas, but don't evaluate them carefully

Exploratory talk

• Everyone listens actively• Pupils ask questions of one other• Pupils share all relevant information• Ideas may be challenged – but pupils address the point, not

the person• Reasons are given for challenges• Contributions build on what has gone before• Everyone is encouraged to contribute• Ideas and opinions treated with respect• Atmosphere of trust• Sense of shared purpose• The group seeks agreement for joint decisions

• Reasoning is ‘visible’ in the talk

Three categories of classroom talk

• Disputational

• Cumulative

• Exploratory

• Categories not neat – but it is a useful model

– NB –cumulative talk can be useful, e.g. sharing ideas, building consensus etc

– However, it is hard to see a useful educational role for disputational talk

Q So: how can we make it so there’s more ‘exploratory talk’?

A Ground rules for group talk!

What are ground rules?

What are ground rules for group talk?

EMBED - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uC3AfFkLyi4

https://pedagoginthemachine.wordpress.com/2015/02/10/tes-article-in-defence-of-group-work/

What are ground rules for group talk?

What are ground rules for group talk?

• Ground rules are often already in place – they’re just usually implicit, and often not very helpful. For example, left to their own devices, children often follow rules such as:

– If you have a good idea, keep it to yourself

– Don’t ever disagree with your friend(s)

– Don’t challenge the most popular or confident group member

– Let the most confident people dominate the discussion

– Don’t speak if you aren’t 100% sure of what you want to say

• What we need to do is make these ground rules explicit, and then replace them with better rules.

How can I establish ground rules?

• Some excellent resources on the ‘Thinking Together’ website (https://thinkingtogether.educ.cam.ac.uk/resources/)

• Also a newly developed ‘Oracy Assessment Toolkit’ (http://www.educ.cam.ac.uk/research/projects/oracytoolkit/)

Paired talk activity

• Pick a ‘talking point’ and discuss in pairs.

• Try to apply it to teacher training – CPD / INSET sessions

Pick a ‘talking point’ and discuss in pairs. Try to apply it to teacher training – CPD / INSET sessions

Snowball method

Examples of ground rules for group talk

Ground rules often look something like this:

– Everyone should contribute and take turns to speak.– All useful ideas should be shared and considered.– Give reasons for your thinking– Challenges are encouraged but disagree with the point, not the person.– Try to reach agreement; don’t just agree to differ.

• However – it is important to co-construct the ground rules with students – make sure they have a sense of have ownership over the rules that govern their behaviour

• Review and amend the ground rules periodically. In plenaries, as well as reviewing ‘what’ has been learned, review the ‘how’ – e.g.:– How good are we at working toward agreement? – Did everybody contribute equally today? Why / why not? – What strategies might help us do this better next time?

1. Try it first with a class you know well, and with whom you have good relations.

2. Start by asking students what they think makes a discussion go well or badly. It can also help to show students some video clips of good & bad group talk. Discuss what “invisible” ground rules are at play in each.

3. Discuss what “invisible ground rules” exist in classroom discussions (e.g. only speak if you know you have the right answer)

4. TPS a set of generic examples for what good and bad groupwork / group talk looks like in classrooms.

5. Agree a list of “visible” ground rules to make sure that group tasks go swimmingly. Collate suggestions into a long list and then whittle it down to around 5-7 items. Encourage students to word things positively (e.g. do, rather than “do not”). Negotiate!

Top ten tips for using group work in schools

6. Print it out & get the students to sign it. Display it where everyone can see it.

7. Start small – paired talk. Give the students something worthwhile to discuss. A controversial issue that relates to their own lives is often a good idea. Circulate and listen. Ask students you have listened to, to repeat to the class things you have just heard them saying. Celebrate, share, model, reward good practice.

8. At the start of a subsequent session, remind the students of the ground rules. Get them to read each one out, and relate it to a previous group talk, Get students to set themselves a target for that day – eg “I am going to try not to talk for too long”, or “I am going to make sure everyone takes turns to speak”.

9. When the need arises, review the ground rules. Do any need adding, amending or removing?

10. Repeat steps 1 to 9. Practice, reflect, seek feedback, tweak, improve, share best practice and support others, e.g. through T&L communities.

Top ten tips for using group work in schools

Statement 4

“I intend to use ground rules for group talk in the future”

Yes / No / Not sure

The good, the bad and the *shudder*:How to plan for effective group work

James Mannion

PhD student, University of Cambridge

Lead Professional for Science, Varndean School, Brighton

pedagoginthemachine.wordpress.com

@pedagog_machine