Teaching techniques

Intro

We don’t need any scientific proof or academic literature to validate the value of well-structured group work and class activities. For any teacher, nothing beats a group of self-managed learners on a Monday morning after a long eventful weekend.

In most cases teachers think group work means hastily grouping learners in any disorganized order and hope for a magical result. If by chance results do come, the concerned teacher risks becoming a cardiac arrest statistic. You can never throw kids together without explaining the fundamental concept of group work. Ideally, put them in single rows first, let each child sit in his/her desk and let them develop both the concepts of individuality and independence.

Have a long discussion around the importance of teamwork, sharing, support and other obvious benefits of being in a group. Let your learners make comparisons between teamwork and individual work. In the long run this will allow them to have a much broader perspective and understanding of the intentions of group work.

Before learners are put into groups a lot of transparency and truth commissions need to be set up for learners to discuss the duration and life span of each group formed to avoid the element of surprise. I remember as a teacher, I once had to deal with emotional trauma and distress experienced by learners who were unprepared for a move to different groupings. Assortments of reasons were dished out in defense of their comfort and cordiality with their established group networks.

Explain why group work

It is of paramount importance to remind learners that putting them into groups means they are there to work as the name suggests, ‘group WORK’.  Usually pure fun is not what you originally plan for in lessons, but fun is a consequence of well-prepared lessons expressed through an excellent group work approach. Most lessons sometimes fail because teachers mistaken an informative lesson with dullness and seriousness of a heart disease. This is where most teachers miss the point. The intention is to provide learners with space and necessary information which they can constructively engage with while having lots of fun within a group environment.

Rotating groups

Rotating groups will teach learners the skill of adaptability and thorough understanding of diversity. Such skills are also necessary for future use when learners become employees in a workplace. They will easily understand dynamism brought forth by constant mobility (group movements). Constantly moving groups will teach them unpredictability of life, superior coping skills and networking.

When group work is done properly it brings unprecedented order and discipline as well as mutual respect. While learners crisscross classroom boundaries they learn to appreciate one another, communicate and be supportive. Group work teaches learners the old wisdom that ‘we are as strong as our weakest member in a group’. They also learn that the success of a group or team is not solely dependent on a single source of effort.

Written by: Xolani Majola is a policy analyst at Independent  Schools  of Southern Africa.
Credit: First published in The Teacher, a Mail and Guardian publication in the February 2012 issue