Andrew Pollard - How can teachers make group-work work?

How can teachers make group-work work?

Research taster

When teachers are supported by specialists from HEI, they can find this helpful to structure and support better quality group-work. Pupils tend to engage in more task interactions in groups and in a more sustained way. This can improve their attainment, for example, in reading and mathematics at Key Stage 1 and in science at Key Stage 2. The quality of the dialogue seems to be crucial. The study from which this evidence comes suggests that key features of the teachers’ role in effective group work include: planning, adapting grouping practices for different purposes and guiding pupils in group-work.

Your evidence

You may find it helpful to consider the interaction within groups in a lesson, by reflecting on differences between a lesson plan and the lesson as actually taught.

First, you will need to produce a full plan for a lesson in which group-working is a major part. After teaching the lesson, get two copies of your lesson plan. Annotate the first copy with your intended outcomes at each stage. Annotate your second copy with the key events as they actually happened

Consider the differences between your two versions: What do these tell you about the dilemmas faced by teachers in the use of dialogue during group-work? How does this link with the control of teaching and learning?

Moving forward

You might like to see if you can enhance your approach to group-work. Could you, for example, develop a planning sheet to relate specific tasks to different forms of dialogue during group-work? Which tasks work well for teacher-pupil interactions and for pupil-pupil dialogue? Would it be helpful to get a colleague to observe your lesson or watch a video of it to help you explore this? Could you draw in specialist support to help you do group-work differently?

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