Student perspectives on groupwork
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.1921/gpwk.v19i1.666Keywords:
groupwork, student perspectives, group composition, school improvement, citizenship, interdependenceAbstract
The educational system has a crucial role in developing groupwork skills in children and young people which will, in time, assist in the broader use of groupwork within society. Many educational establishments have for some years routinely employed groupwork pedagogy yet there has been limited research on how students actually perceive groupwork. This paper reports on student attitudes toward groupwork (n=248) within the context of a school improvement initiative. Staff from three schools met to reflect on their own practice of classroom groupwork. A questionnaire was subsequently developed and administered to elicit the general attitude of the students towards groupwork as well as their views on competition, interdependence, accountability, learning outcomes, group composition, teacher involvement, citizenship, and learning styles. Overwhelming support for groupwork was found within the cohort. Groupwork is viewed as enjoyable, preferable to individual work, a teaching strategy that can be engaged with, beneficial to learning, an aid to concentration during learning, helpful for memorising learning objectives and beneficial for life post-school. The paper discusses emerging themes and implications for the future.
References
Ainscow, M. and West. M (2006) <i>Leading Improvements in Urban Schools</i>. Buckingham: Open University Press\nBaines, E., Blatchford, P., and Kutnick, P. (2003) Changes in grouping practices over primary and secondary school,. <i>International Journal of Educational Research</i>, 39, 9-34\nBlatchford, P., Kutnick, P., Baines, E., and Galton, M. (2003) Toward a social pedagogy of classroom group work. <i>International Journal of Educational Research</i>, 39, 1-2, 153-172\nCantwell, R.H. and Andrews, B. (2002) Cognitive and psychological factors underlying secondary school students’ feelings towards group work. <i>Educational Psychology</i>, 22, 1, 63-73\nCiani, K., Summers, J., Easter, M., and Sheldon, K. (2008) Collaborative learning and positive experiences: Does letting students choose their own groups matter? <i>Educational Psychology</i>, 28, 6, 627-641\nCooper, P. (1993) Learning from pupil’s perspectives. <i>British Journal of Special Education</i>, 204, 129-133\nCrozier, W. and Perkins, P. (2002) Shyness as a factor when assessing children. <i>Educational Psychology in Practice</i>, 18, <i>3</i>, 239-244\nDavie, R. (1993) Listen to the child: A time to change. in R. Davie and D. Galloway (Eds.) <i>Listening to Children in Education</i>. London: David Fulton\nDavies, I. and Evans, M. (2002) Encouraging active citizenship, <i>Educational Review</i>, 54, 1, 69-78\nDepartment for Education and Skills (2004) <i>Pedagogy and Practice: Teaching and learning in secondary schools</i>. London: HMSO\nDoel, M. (2004) Difficult behaviour in groups. <i>Groupwork</i>, 14, 1, 80-100\nEstyn (2008) <a target="_blank" href='www.estyn.gov.uk/inspection_reports.asp'>www.estyn.gov.uk/inspection_reports.asp</a>\nGalton, M. (1987) An ORACLE chronicle: A decade of classroom research. <i>Teaching and Teacher Education</i>, 3, 4, 299-314\nHarris, A. (2000a). <i>Successful School Improvement: Comparing IQEA and the Manitoba School Improvement Project</i>. April. Nottingham: IQEA\nHarris, A. (2000b). <i>School Improvement: what’s in it for schools?</i> London: Routledge Falmer\nHobbs, C., Todd, L., and Taylor, J. (2000) Consulting with children and young people: Enabling educational psychologists to work collaboratively. <i>Educational and Child Psychology</i>, 17, 4, 107-115\nHopkins, D., West, M., and Ainscow, M. (1996) <i>Improving the Quality of Education for All</i>. London: David Fulton\nJackson, C. (2002) Can single-sex classes in co-educational schools enhance the learning experiences of girls and/or boys? An exploration of pupils’ perceptions. <i>British Educational Research Journal</i>, 28, 1, 37-47\nJohnson, D.W., Johnson. R.T., and Smith, K.A. (1991a.) <i>Active Learning: Cooperation in the college classroom</i>. Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company\nJohnson, D.W., Johnson. R.T., and Holubec, E.J. (1991b). <i>Cooperation in the Classroom</i>. Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company\nJohnson, D.W. (1993). <i>Reaching Out: Interpersonal effectiveness and self-actualization</i>. Needham Heights, MA: Allyn & Bacon\nJones, I. (2002) Social relationships, peer collaboration and children’s oral language. <i>Educational Psychology</i>, 22, 1, 63-73\nKershner, R. & Pointon, P. (2000) Children’s views of the primary classroom as an environment for working and learning, <i>Research in Education</i>, 64, 64-77\nKutnick, P. (1994). Use and effectiveness of groups in classrooms: Towards a pedagogy. in P. Kutnick and C. Rogers (Eds.) <i>Groups in Schools</i>. London: Cassell\nMueller, A. and Fleming, T. (2001) Cooperative learning: Listening to how children work at school. <i>The Journal of Educational Research</i>, 94, 5, 259-265\nOborne, M. and Maidment, J. (2007) A program to facilitate father involvement in the primary school environment. <i>Groupwork</i>, 17, 3, 8-24\nOfsted (2008) <a target="_blank" href='www.ofsted.gov.uk/oxcare_providers/list'>www.ofsted.gov.uk/oxcare_providers/list</a>\nOfsted (2002) <i>Inspecting Citizenship: 11-16 with guidance on self-evaluation</i>. London: Ofsted\nOnwuegbuzie, A.J. (2001) Relationship between peer orientation and achievement in cooperative learning-based research methodology courses. <i>The Journal of Educational Research</i>, 94, 3, 164-170\nPreston-Shoot, M. (2007) <i>Effective groupwork</i>. Hampshire: Palgrave Macmillan\nQualification and Curriculum Authority (2009) <i>The aims of the curriculum</i>. Available at: <a target="_blank" href='http://curriculum.qca.org.uk/index.aspx'>http://curriculum.qca.org.uk/index.aspx</a>\nReeve, J., Jang, H., Carrell, D., Jeon, S., and Barch, J. (2004) Enhancing students’ engagement by increasing teachers’ autonomy support. <i>Motivation and Emotion</i>, 28, 2, 147-169\nSilverlock, M. (2000) Learning beyond the classroom: A role for groupwork? <i>Groupwork</i> 12, 1, 58-71\nSlavin, R. (1990) Cooperative learning. in C. Rogers and P. Kutnick (Eds.) <i>The Social Psychology of the Primary School</i>. London: Routledge\nTann, S. (1981). Grouping and groupwork. in B. Simon and J. Wilcocks (Eds.) <i>Research and Practice in the Primary School</i>. London: Routledge & Kegan Paul\nTerwel, J., Gillies, R.M., Eeden. P., and Hoek, D. (2002) Co-operative learning processes of students: A longitudinal multilevel perspective. <i>British Journal of Educational Psychology</i>, 71, 4, 619-645\nWebb, N. (1991) Task related verbal instruction and mathematics learning in small groups. <i>Journal for Research in Mathematics Education</i>, 22, 366-89\n
Downloads
Published
2012-12-20
How to Cite
Rees, P. (2012). Student perspectives on groupwork. Groupwork, 19(1), 59-81. https://doi.org/10.1921/gpwk.v19i1.666
Issue
Section
Articles
License
Copyright lies with the journal. Enquiries regarding reproduction should be sent in the first place to enquiries@whitingbirch.net
