| What impact do friendships have on pupils’ learning? |
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Research taster
One of the issues raised by pupil consultation is the fact that pupils’ learning is greatly affected by their friendships. This can be both a good thing and a bad thing. On the one hand, friendships are often an invaluable support system for learners, and they can also inspire competition which helps learners keep an edge. However, friendships that are disruptive can distract learners and undermine their confidence in their own abilities. What’s more, not all friendships provide support for learners: some can be directly undermining. 
Your evidence
Because friendship can be something of a double-edged sword, it is important to look at the function friendships serve. To do this you’ll want to observe pupils interacting in groups so that you have some evidence for you reflections on how interactions between friends affect work in the learning environments you create. You might like to focus on a small group of children in a classroom (either in your own class, or a colleague's). Try and work out the meaning and purpose behind what they are doing. Are they trying to demonstrate their ‘best work' to the teacher or each other? Are they supporting each other or playing power games? Are they having a laugh? Afterwards you could discuss some of the events with the children to gain insights into their interpretation of events, rather than just to rely on your own. Taken from Reflective Activity 11-1c Moving forward Exploring the way friendships affect learning is particularly effective in the classroom, because the process can be monitored and managed easily. Having observed and reflected on what is happening to a small group, can you see any benefit in involving the entire classroom in the examination? If so, how would you go about doing so and what role can and should the pupils themselves play in exploring the effects of friendship behaviours on learning? Find out more:  The project website: http://www.consultingpupils.co.uk/ A TLRP Research Brief on pupil voice at: http://www.tlrp.org/pub/documents/no5_ruddock.pdf A GTC Research of the Month summary on pupil voice at: http://www.gtce.org.uk/policyandresearch/research/ROMtopics/pupilvoice/ |
