Growing as an independent, individual is also important for students but don’t downplay the benefits of working in teams or small groups. And she thinks it will be an asset when she goes to college and meets people from diverse backgrounds. Group roles can help disrupt stereotypical and gendered role assignments, which can be common in group learning. The benefits of group work The benefits of group work Whatever form the group work takes on your course, the opportunity to work with others, rather than on your own, can provide distinct benefits. “My goal with heterogeneous groups is to make sure that there is at least one speaker of a different language in each group.”. In the long run, this new self-belief can help pupils improve upon their grades and enjoy school. Obviously there should always be a focus on your students working independently, but if group work proves to be successful there’s nothing wrong with relying on it more often throughout the year. In order to combat some of the challenges in keeping English language learners engaged, educators at San Francisco International High School (SFIHS) are trying a different approach. There’s also very little direct instruction, in part because it wouldn’t be accessible to many of the students. If you’re sick of the same old routine, set group work every once in a while. Every teacher can reap the rewards of setting group work. In an ideal world everyone would just get along. Reports of 100,000 pupils being put into overcrowded state schools during 2010 soon changed to sports halls being converted into classrooms in 2014 and a Notting Hill primary school with a 92m catchment area. She also tries to make sure every group has a leader, someone whose academic and language skills are strong enough to direct the group through the task. Kessler said the college program is part of the school’s mission to not just graduate students and help them apply to college, but to ensure that they get in and finish. For some members of your class, their fellow students are the closest thing they have to a family during their time overseas. Think carefully about how students will be physically arranged in groups.Will it be easy for groups to form and for all students to be comfortable? Grouping students should allow, and even force, students to work together. Group work gives teachers a fantastic opportunity to monitor and observe as students collaborate. There are many benefits from analysing, discussing and exploring your own ideas and questions and gaining feedback from your peers. After the writing exercise, students moved physically to different parts of the room based on their responses and shared their opinions with a partner. “So in speed you might be getting a little bit slower, but in quality, teamwork is really much more higher because when you communicate with other people then you will understand different ideas, and you will also learn a deeper level of a certain topic.”. Now she likes learning about her classmates’ cultures and perspectives -- it’s part of what keeps class interesting. And, the school has a uniquely supportive culture in part because everyone is learning English and supporting one another through that difficult process. SFIHS teachers have found that their students are more motivated to engage with content -- and practice English -- when they work in groups that include speakers of many different first languages on authentic discussions or problems. Like anything in education, grouping works best when it is planned and used thoughtfully. By Susan Munro, Mary Utne O'Brien, John W. Payton October 19, 2006 Since participation is fundamental to language practice, teachers often assign roles for group work so that everyone is integral to success. Simply seating students in groups of four or five does not mean students are engaged with each other. Well, it’s the process of allowing several pupils to work side by side to manage a workload and complete a project. It’s a safe space where students don’t have to be shy about their accents. One of the most difficult aspects of teaching students who are learning English is keeping the cognitive rigor of learning activities high, while making sure students can access the content by simplifying the language. Increased productivity and performance: groups that work well together can achieve much more than individuals working on their own. 5 Benefits of Small Group Learning. Some students work better at night time, others work better during the day. Assigning a Group In fact, there’s a lot to be learned just from watching over a group. However, you also need to heighten their ability to work alongside other people in a team. It’s a safe space where students don’t have to be shy about their accents. “And so if somebody is making a mistake with pronunciation or struggling with the word, everybody has been there.” Educators here try to foster students’ pride in their bilingualism and community around a shared experience of struggle. “It was really hard for me to know different people. When students study in a group, the priority is finding a time that works for everyone, not finding a time that is most effective for studying. You’ll also receive a carefully curated list of content from teacher-trusted sources. Common Ground: Teaching Kids the Benefits Of Working Together Cooperative learning helps create the essential skill of working (and compromising) within a group. Group work aids their language learning in many ways even when they may not realize what is happening. When students study alone they can plan a study schedule that works best for them and take breaks when they please. Group work, also called project-based learning, has many benefits for students, such as increased engagement and the ability to personalize learning. The warmup activity got students speaking in English with one another about topics relevant to their lives, another key element of the model. Students can gain confidence, become more aware of their strengths and are encouraged to develop their own ideas. If you step into any office environment around the country you’ll find that there’s a huge emphasis on teamwork. Group members are more likely to hold each other accountable for not completing work if a particular task is assigned to them. “We have the luxury of having designed our entire program around the needs of this group that is often forgotten about or underserved in schools where multiple priorities exist.”. Since students come from all over the world, their exposure to formal schooling is often quite different from the average trajectory in the U.S. Remember your view is malleable and should change as a result of the interaction. Group work is the perfect way to do this. In the long run, this new self-belief can help pupils improve upon their grades and enjoy school. That is why it is important to plan group work and the types of groups you will be using. The best way to do this is by setting group work. Therefore, you should be looking to develop confidence in your pupils at every opportunity. “I am from a place where I only have the same people and same religion,” said Amel, a senior originally from Yemen. In fact, it’s what makes most companies so successful. And what’s more applicable to adult life than working as a team? It takes between four and seven years to really learn a language well, so it’s no surprise that even after high school students are still catching up to their peers who grew up speaking English. Group working can provide a great opportunity to develop generic skills such as, Organisation; Delegation These are seniors, so they’ve had three years of experience with group work, sharing roles and making sure everyone has the chance to contribute. Now he said he can see the benefits of both group work and individual work. Address: 1-13 Falcon Road, London, SW11 2PL. In the college classes instructors speak more quickly and the reading load is more burdensome, but students seem to like getting a taste of what to expect from the college experience. 5 super-smart teaching hacks for organised learning for you and your students, 4 Teaching Hacks to get pupils to put their phones away. Students can allocate tasks based on expertise. Disadvantages of group work in the classroom mostly apply to the teacher. Similarly to how group work mixes things up, it can also be a change of pace. For over 15 years we have been providing the best supply teaching experience to teachers and TAs from London, the UK and overseas. “At first it’s very hard to collaborate with different kinds of people,” said another student, Alan, who is from China. The emphasis on collaborative group work and conversation with peers from different backgrounds can be hard for students at first. In any given year at SFIHS, students speak between 17-24 different languages, which teachers see as an asset to their teaching. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. (web page) outlines the benefits of group work for both students and instructors -- with the caveat that "group projects can – and often do – backfire badly when they are not designed, supervised, and assessed in a way that promotes meaningful teamwork and deep collaboration." Schools following this model are small and keep a laserlike focus on language development and access to postgraduate opportunities, which means they often don’t offer as much choice as comprehensive high schools. The social process Amel described is actually a big part of the educational strategy at SFIHS. “Where they sit in the classroom is super important,” said Heather Heistand, an English teacher at SFIHS. Group work is great for improving your critical thinking skills and making you a sharper thinker. The best way to ensure this happens is by being strategic when choosing which pupils go into a group together. Group roles allow students to strengthen their communicative skills, especially in areas that they are less confident in volunteering for. Benefits for students Benefits for Students. If they’re foreign and living in the country for the foreseeable future, they’ll need friends who understand them even more. Meanwhile, you’ll find that your students are always forced to adjust if you change the groups each time you set such projects. Benefits of group work Good group work has great potential for the following reasons: • Students are encouraged to become active rather than passive learners by developing collaborative and co-operative skills, and lifelong learning skills. Heistand then called on representatives of each group to share out to the class. For some students, sharing project responsibilities with others provides emotional comfort as well as tangible value. Interactivity - While some of the group work may be parceled out and done individually, some must be done interactively with … The San Francisco public school is part of the Internationals Network, which started in New York and has decades of experience teaching students who are newly arrived to the U.S. and are learning English while attending American high schools. The emphasis on collaborative group work and conversation with peers from different backgrounds can be hard for students at first. Instead, there are many benefits that you can take advantage of if you are currently teaching in the UK. It takes more than just intelligence to secure good grades – it also takes confidence. "What Are the Benefits of Group Work?" Almost all work is done in groups that are carefully crafted by teachers. This doesn’t mean that group work should be shunned though. The school day can be terribly rigid – for teachers as much as students. The tablemate then turned to her group and repeated what she said in English, adding, “We need to practice reading, too.”. Wright and Lawson (2005) found that group work helped students feel that the class was smaller and encouraged them to come to class more often. Group activities increase logic, critical thinking and problem solving abilities. However, group work can open up a whole new set of skills for you to assess. This technique can help prevent the school day from becoming monotonous because it introduces a new way for students to learn. Group work is an amazing way to do this because it can help students relax alongside their peers as they learn the value of their own opinion. The benefits of group work include the following: Students engaged in group work, or cooperative learning, show increased individual achievement compared to students working alone. This concept teaches diversity, communication, and compromise. Group work boosts critical thinking skills, active learning and independent thinking. While you can’t force two pupils to be friends, putting them in a group together should help them to build bridges and find a mutual respect for each other. It could simply mean they are going to play and talk, rather than complete regular class work. “They're actually used to holding each other accountable for the norms that we have in group discussions,” she said. For the "Animal Farm" activity there was a “reader,” an “editor,” a “discussion leader” and a “question asker.” The reader is responsible for reading the text out loud; the editor helps make sure everyone knows what to write down; the discussion leader keeps the conversation moving and ensures everyone shares; and the question asker is the only one who can ask Heistand for help or clarification. Group roles can help disrupt stereotypical and gendered role assignments, which can be common … Benefits of Group Work in Language Learning An important aim of group work (GW) is to encourage fluency in language. “More hands make for lighter work.” “Two heads are better than one.” “The more the merrier.” These adages speak to the potential groups have to be more productive, creative, and motivated than individuals on their own. Yes, you as a teacher can also benefit from setting group work. Unfortunately, we don’t live in an ideal world – and there are sure to be conflicts between pupils throughout the school year. In the classroom, group work can take many forms; however, the goal remains the same--get students to interact with each other and collaborate to complete a unified task. This is why it’s important to seize the opportunity to mix things up whenever possible. Over recent years, a continuing theme in education is the overcrowding of state schools. She learned quickly to ask questions instead of making assumptions. One Wednesday morning in Heistand’s senior English class, students started the class period by writing about why they agreed or disagreed with various statements like, “People should trust their leaders to make decisions for them.” Heistand says she always gives students a chance to prewrite before sharing their answers verbally, so that those who are less comfortable with English have something to share. There’s also very little direct instruction, in part because it wouldn’t be accessible to many of the students. There is an age-old trick that educators have often used from time to time – group work. The benefits of group work do not stop with the students. Development of Generic Skills. Nine times out of 10, you can do this when they are working independently. Many students came from educational systems that did not value collaboration -- all school work was done individually and group work was considered cheating. Impact Teachers are a London-based supply teaching agency with a passion for people and education. By doing so, we are getting students to work with people they may never have chosen to work with. When teachers encourage group work, they offer students a safe environment in which they can interact without all eyes of the class focused on them at once. In fact, students receive many benefits from working in groups as they study English and pursue language fluency. Subscribe to receive weekly updates of MindShift stories every Sunday. “If we create the most heterogeneous mix of kids that we possibly can and put them in situations where they are asked to speak English together, they learn English very quickly.”. One thing we can be sure about – modern education has … Always remember, school is predominantly about arming the young generation with skills to succeed in later life. They want to talk; they want to learn; they're curious,” Kessler said. It’s useful for YOU Yes, you as a … All the instruction and materials are in English, but teachers expect students to use their first languages to help one another make meaning, one of the many strategies they use to keep the level of thinking high. Sadly, there are those who shy away from setting their students such tasks because the outcome can sometimes descend into chaos if pupils don’t take it seriously. Group work holds its advantages for … You may think you already have a good idea of what your pupils are good at. The idea is for students to get exposed to college-level work, but with a cohort of peers and the support of their high school teachers. LEARNING TOGETHER. • It encourages the development of critical thinking skills. You should find that the method frees up your time because you don’t need to speak to each and every individual in the room separately. Why Group Work Could Be the Key to English Learner Success, San Francisco International High School (SFIHS), Internationals Network model is quite different. Group work can allow students to undertake a wider variety of assignments. You may find that someone – perhaps unexpectedly – is a natural leader. Just remember, if you use it wisely you should find that there are many benefits for both you and your students to enjoy. “They are social creatures. Meanwhile, you may find that another pupil is happy to take a backseat when they know that someone else is carrying the workload for them. And, the school supports formal programming to follow up with graduates who are in college and may need a little extra support. Groups of 5 to 10 students meet on weekly a quarterly basis with a counselor facilitating the session. “It is easy for English learners to become marginalized or for their needs not to be taken into account,” said SFIHS principal Julie Kessler. “You will be able to learn things by yourself very quick, but in teamwork you need to make sure that your teammate isn’t left out,” he said. “Every single kid in that room is a language learner,” Kessler said. “I think about the demands that they're going to have to face in college,” English teacher Heather Heistand said. Group work provides a platform to nurture independent and lifelong learning. This is especially true if you set short-term group work and long-term group work throughout the year. 1. A. This means that after the group work is complete the classroom will be a more harmonious environment. Active learning keeps children from daydreaming and dozing off. They read the passage out loud, discussed what it meant, and used textual evidence to support claims they made in response to prompts. What are the benefits of group work? Educators are taking advantage of teens’ desire to flirt and socialize to help them learn the language. As a teacher, your job is to nurture your pupils as they grow and develop new skills. Both Amel and Alan are also taking a college-level class at Community College of San Francisco, part of a program most seniors do if they have enough credits. What is it exactly? If you watch on from the sidelines you should find that your students learn how to listen to each other, bring original ideas to the table and compromise as they work towards one common goal. Heistand wasn’t surprised by this behavior. “But after you get used to it you will feel amazing, like you are working with the whole international.” Alan admits he was shy about collaborating at first, but when his teachers told him teamwork was part of his grade he got over his reticence. Schools English learners are grouped by ability when they are working independently or during parent ’ s a space. Times out of 10, you also need to reach students who speak benefits of group work for students different academic levels, also... And dozing off your view is malleable and should change as a teacher can reap the rewards of group. Will need to actively participate in helping the group reach its goals you also need actively! With others provides emotional comfort as well as tangible value teens ’ desire flirt. In that room is a language learner, ” she said ll find that there are many benefits for to... 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