EDUCATION FOR THE 21ST CENTURY-WORKING WITH GROUPS

MODEL OF EDUCATION IN VOGUE: CONSTRUCTIVIST EDUCATION

PIAGET- Children are not adults; children construct their own understanding of reality through trial and error. Piaget gave the example of his own daughter who was asked, 'what makes the wind'. The answer she gave was that 'the trees make the wind'. Then her father asked her what makes the wind on the water. This question required further contemplation and enhances the possibility of the child entering what Vygotsky was later to name the Zone of Proximal Development. A good teacher engages students by finding their current understandings and then giving them the opportunity to gather more information and integrate it into their current scheme of understanding. Piaget refers to knowledge as a scheme that can be modified and built upon.


VYGOTSKY- SOCIAL INTERACTION: Students need to have effective social interaction for good learning to occur. While an individual can build their own schemes, a person only really learns when they discuss an idea with another person. This requires that they question, think, ask, help and rethink. Their Scheme of Understanding is constantly developing. It is important to remember this in the classroom.

Group work and the classroom
For effective group work we need the following factors to be present
i) Three, four or five members only
ii) Positive Interdependence
iii) A clear set of specific student learning outcomes
iv) Recognition of the group
v) Interaction within the group
vi) Structuring the task
vii) Resources
viii) Post Group Reflection
ix) Assessment in groups

The social interaction in a classroom is provided by group work. This involves students collaborating in their learning. Your may remember the conditions required for a group to be able to function effectively. In summary these are
i) Appropriate Place
ii) Quality Time


Collaborative Learning Types
i) Pairs. This is very important and really needs to be taking place constantly in a classroom. The challenge for the teacher is to focus the students on discussion of the topic in hand. For it to be successful it is important that the pair have the sense of a common project, that they are solving a problem, that they are building knowledge. It is necessary to tap into this creative side of the individuals. They have to have a sense of working on a project together to find an original solution.
It is largely a waste of time to tell them to discuss what you have just been saying. What you have to do is throw out a challenging question or issue that they discuss in order to form an opinion or to find an answer. The need for a well prepared lesson including the preparation of good key questions is the key to success here.
Remember it is through their discussion, their social interaction that the learning occurs, that their Scheme of Understanding develops. They need to have a feedback mechanism for their solution to you the teacher and their fellow students. It is here that group work begins.

Think ---- Pair --- Share

ii) Group work.
One of the frustrations in group work is that only some individuals contribute. This is why it is important that you prepare well for group work. The technical word is scaffold learning. There are two proven methods to improve group work.
a) Think, pair, share
Here the students come to the group having thought about the issue and already discussed it with another person. We know that the most effective way to learn is to teach others. So, when you are doing the think, pair, share activity make sure they know they have to teach their group. Do not put the pair in the same group. The students can then teach the students their ideas and then discuss gaining further insights.



b) Jigsaw Groups
We covered this earlier this semester. Check on your notes. But basically it is
a. Teacher nominates members of the group
b. Teacher allocates a number of tasks to each group
c) Group members allocate a task to each member
d) The group member becomes an expert on that task
e) The Experts from each group meet and discuss and gain further understanding
f) Members return to their group and teach the other members of the group.


Posted by sallyd