Groupwork

After reading the article, The Dilemma of Groupwork, I could not help but find myself relating the information conveyed to my own, personal experiences within academic settings. The article construed the various problems coinciding with the act of group work within a classroom setting. These problems correlate with an array of statuses that are assigned to children inclusive of academic statuses, peer statuses, and societal statuses. When describing the concept of an academic status, the book states, "In the classroom it is impossible to compose groups where all members have equal status. Students generally have an idea of the relative competence of each of their classmates in important subjects like reading and math acquired from listening to their classmates perform, from hearing the teacher's evaluation of that performance, and from finding out each other's marks and grades" (28). In essence, when working in groups the children whom are highly respected academically and perform well on a plethora of given tasks are usually in a hierarchical position in which their opinions are more respected and thoughts and ideas taken to be truth. On the contrary, students who are known by their peers as being incompetent and unable to complete tasks with accuracy have few opportunities to offer their ideas and, when those thoughts are conveyed, are rarely taken seriously. Peer status is one that arises due to social hierarchies based on level of attractiveness, popularity, or athletic ability. Students seen as having a high peer status generally tend to dominate the conversations existing within group work while students possessing a low peer status have little opportunity to speak. Lastly, societal status's arise as a direct result of what culture is more valued within the community, school district, etc. For example, in the hypothetical situation depicted of Ms. Todd's class, there were only three African American students within her classroom and two of the three were non-participatory during group discussion and failed to convey their thoughts and ideas. This suggests that because there are so few individuals deriving from this culture (within this particular classroom) they maintain a low societal status. Overall, it is extremely important to consider and recognize these existing status's within a classroom. As Cohen states, "Those who do not participate because they are of low status will learn less than they might have if they had interacted more. In addition, those who are of high status will have more access to the interaction and will therefore learn more. It is a case of the rich getting richer" (36). He goes on to say, "If status characteristics are allowed to operate unchecked, the interaction of the children will only reinforce the prejudices they entered school with" (37). Because these outcomes are both extremely problematic and not only hinder children's academic learning but also socio-political mindset, it is increasingly important to make yourself away of these existing hierarchies and intervene as much as possible. In reflecting on my own experiences within the school system, I have routinely been one of the students who sits quietly during discussion and listens to the opinions of the rest of the group. This is not a result of my own incompetence nor of my inability to think of something constructive to say, rather just my own feelings of inferiority and shyness within a group. I now understand that in doing this I am essentially encouraging other individuals to view me as uneducated and assume I have nothing worthy to offer them within a group situation. This is certainly not how I wish to be interpreted by my peers and it is disheartening to think that, through my own actions, I have essentially perpetuated and encouraged this thinking. Because of the negative feelings that I have developed as a result of other's opinions of me, I know how important it is to intervene when these situations are occurring. In my own classroom, while I do intend to promote group work, I now have the insight to do so with a critical eye.