Importance Of Group Work in Primary Education and the Role of the Teacher to Manage it

Background:having clarity of goals and way it is presented to
Historically, the conventional method of teachinggroom their abilities.  In this regard, Cordon
and conveying information by a teacher has not(2000) has outlined the duties of the teacher
been much effective. This one-way method ofduring group task.  He states, that during the
communicating to the pupils is quite ineffectivetasks the teacher should introduce the activity
and sometimes quite boring and unintuitive for theand establish a collaborative working climate; by
students. Students do not get a chance toclarifying expected outcomes.  The teacher
express their ideas, viewpoints and thoughts; theirshould be ensured that children had a clear
ability to interact, knowledge sharing,understanding of the ground rule for the group
confidence-level gets narrowed-down.work, respective rules and interdependency.
 Hence, it proves that although group-work is a
Student tutelage in a group formation is morestudent-centered approach but the teacher still
preferable as compared to being guidedhas to play a lead role in that, the teacher's role
individually, at a tender age and being a socialacts as a beacon for his/her pupils.  She has, in
animal it is inclined more in learning in groups andfact the central role in the whole process of
interaction with his/her peers. The first five (5)group work.  It is her responsibility to plan
years of a child life have impacts on his/heractivities in such a way that children could work
learning potential for the rest of his life.effectively in groups under the guidance of their
 teacher.  Cordon (2000) cities Lyle (1993) who
Introduction:points to the importance of teachers encouraging
 children to see themselves as responsible learners
This topic covers the Importance of Group Workby designing the activities, which ensure children
in Primary Education and the Role of the Teacherpose questions, make observations and contribute
to manage it.Through discussion and argument, Iopinions. (p.195)
will discuss the value and purpose of group work 
in the light of research on teaching practices 
conducted by renowned educationists and the roleAfter knowing the importance of group work, I
of the teacher in the organization of group workanalyzed my role as a primary teacher to
and planning of appropriate tasks for collaborativeimplement effective group work in my class.  I
work since it requires careful planning and forhave always felt that very young students attain
thought for positive outcomes.  Then I willbetter outcome if we give them opportunity to
analyze my own classroom practice and identifyinteract with their peers in their classroom and to
my own strengths to manage the group workdiscuss the task. Hence, according to the purpose
strategy effectively in the class.and objectives of the lesson I have tried to make
 use of group work in my classroom in order to
Finally, I will formulate an action plan to overcomedevelop the students' communicative and
all the problems, which few teachers face whileexplorative skills.    In the feedback session
managing group work. In the end, I will concludethat followed, I emphasized to see the variety
the whole study in a way, which will show theand depth of ideas.  The group came up with
importance of group work in the better learningsuch brilliant points, which were because of the
of a child.exchange of different ideas with each other.  
Discussion and AnalysisTherefore, I observed, the outcomes of
 segregating my students in different small
Traditionally, a teacher has always been treatedstudy-groups were more result-oriented and the
as an indemnified personality who leads the wholestudents did their assigned tasks vigorously and in
class, dictating his/her notes and lectures to thea better way.
students trying to put everything into the minds 
of the students, this one-way mode ofStudents of kindergarten were somewhat
communication has not been that efficient asaccustomed to group work strategy since they
compared to the new trend of forming differenthad been introduced to group work in the
small study groups among the students and theyprevious class.  Therefore, I did not face much
put across their ideas. Effective teachers doproblem in the organization of group work
understand the effects and outcomes ofactivities.  Initially, I made use of friendship
promoting team-work in their students.  It hasgrouping because student felt more secure
been ascertained that the existence of the groupworking with their friends (according to Galton and
in the classroom is not a new phenomena. Williamson (1992) many primary teachers regularly
According to Kutnick and Rogers (1994), "Fromgroup by friendship, because these groups are
earliest recorded writing about education (certainlymore than the seating arrangements.  It also
from Platto and Socrates), learning used to takefosters collaboration and cooperative learning
place in a group context. Hence, the importancesetup).   Once they started enjoying working in
of social interaction in learning can not begroups, then gradually, I started sorting them into
overlooked" (P.2)mix ability groups with usually high to low or
.middle ability and high or middle to low ability
The idea of group work carries with it a vision ofmembers.  This has worked quiet well since the
students talking to each other, sharing, reshapingclever student tends to pull the slow learners
and refining their ideologies and concepts.  Italong with them as well and therefore providing all
means those children's enthusiasm andstudents an equal opportunity to extend their
consequently learning opportunities increase withideas.
in-group situations, both cooperative andSuggested Action plan for Teachers to Manage
collaborative. Moyles (1992) also cites Cullingfordthe Effective Group Work:
(1991) about children's preferences for teaching 
strategies "Of all styles of classroom organization,Therefore, teachers who are still following the
the possibility of working with some one elseconventional methods of teaching should make a
seems to them one of the most important, nothabit of creating small study-groups in the primary
because they just enjoy working with a friendclasses, which is quite evident in light of different
but because they can receive help, give help andresearches in the following ways:
exchange ideas." (p.124) 
 - They should plan a task for each group which
Group work provides students within anshould be challenging, time-bound and most
opportunity to assimilate their knowledge throughimportantly should have a relevance to the level
discussion with their peers, hence supporting eachof the students
other's learning.- Make sure that the group face across at each
 other and that they can all hear each other
It has also been observed that young students- For newly formed groups, in order to break the
very often in the classroom do not have theice among them, we can assign them different
opportunity to develop their listening and speakingroles to play so that they should start interacting
skills in whole class situation.  This have beenwith each other quickly
stated in hand –out ‘Use of Language: A- They should be ready to accept the challenge of
Common  Approach' issued by School Curriculumthe group-refuses, and should proactively plan to
and Assessment Authority which says that thecope with such situations
amount of time any individual pupil can speak in a- They should create the groups keeping in mind
whole class situation is limited, so groupthese things comparable ability, mixed ability,
discussions can increase the opportunities for talkfriendship, gender etc.
and encourage pupil's to organize their own 
discussion.  Thus, it is through discussions in a 
group that students develop a better ability toConclusion:
listen and accept others opinions and develop 
confidence in expressing their own views byAs a result of my study, I now understand that
speaking with clarity.  Wells (1985) states that algroup work increases pupils' ability to cooperate
children learn most activities when there areand learn from others, thus enable them to take
frequent opportunities of collaborative talk withresponsibility of their own learning and reducing
teachers and fellow pupil's.  Therefore, thisreliance on the teacher. However, in this casethe
proved that while engage in-group work, studentsrole of a teacher is to organize an environment
in a way take charge of their own learning.that facilitates cooperative and collaborative
 learning.  This happens by providing all students
Group size and type of group is also a veryan opportunity to be equally involved in the social
important factor in a learning process of a child.and cognitive activities and to stimulate, realign
As far as group size and structure is concernedand invoke the thought-provoking behaviors
its teachers ability and competency that how sheamong students.
divides children equally according to the level of 
the task and their mental ability in this wayBibliography:
students support, each other listens to each other 
and even corporate in finding the solutions of- Corden, R. (2000) Literacy and Learning through
different problem which are given to them forTalk: Strategies for the primary Classroom.
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(1991), "the setting up of group work activities- Galton, M. and Williamson, J. (1992) Groupwork in
involves a number of decisions about the logisticsthe Primary School. London: Routledge
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and how groups are to formed, second theSchools. London: Cassell Education
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The role of the teacher in this case is, one of- USE OF LANGUAGE: A COMMON APPROACH.
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that the students in a class have different- Vygotsky, L. S. (1978) Mind in Society: The
attitudes and strengths.  Therefore, the teacherDevelopment of Higher Psychological Processes.
is a person, who shows acceptance of children,Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press
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