Research taster

Pupils do not automatically take to group-working.  They may need a lot of guidance. The beginning and end of the group-work activity seem to be important.  To start with, it seems to be helpful if pupils are briefed clearly (pre-briefing) so that they understand both what the task is and how they are going to work as a group to complete it.  At the end, debriefing allows pupils to reflect and evaluate what they achieved and how they worked together.

Your evidence 

During pre- and debriefing, you need to emphasise thinking and reasoning rather than the quality of answer. You could analyse your own and your pupils’ talk at the start and end of group-work to find out how far you encourage shared reflection and to identify any patterns in communication. Working with a colleague to observe you and give feedback might be helpful.

You could then analyse the results to try to identify any patterns of talk in relation to pupil factors - such as gender, ethnicity, and attainment level - or task factors.

Further points to reflect on are:

How far did the pre-briefing help prepare students for the task?

How well did the pupils engage in shared reflection during the debriefing?

Moving forward

Your analysis may suggest ways in which you can enhance your pre- and debriefings. Could you use open-ended questions to help students build their understanding of the task and the principles of group-working?  During debriefing could you develop your use of non-judgmental questions to encourage students to discuss their ideas, the processes within their groups and how they felt about them? Could you use pre- and debriefing sessions to model helpful behaviours for group-working such as listening to others, taking turns, building on what each other says and politely challenging each other?

Find out more

The SPRinG project at:
http://www.tlrp.org/proj/phase11/phase2a.html

Find out more about planning and implementing group-work:

The Research informed Practice website digests:

The effects of cooperative learning on junior high school students during small group learning

Gillies, R.M., University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/research/themes/pupil_grouping/ThuAug261107362004/

Widening access to educational opportunities through teaching children how to reason together

Wegerif, R., Littleton, K., Dawes, L., Mercer, N. and Rowe, D.

http://www.standards.dfes.gov.uk/research/themes/speakandlisten/wegerif_access/