Working in mixed ability groups at primary school

[18yearstooold]

Once again dd is moaning about the fact that every time they get put into a group at primary she hates it, would much rather work by herself

Do any of your children view group work more positively as it isn't something they can avoid!

My son enjoys it a more as time has gone on (age 9 now). He likes working with his friends not so much with the critical/bossy pupils! And through this he has found out his own developing tendency to criticise is best reined in. Sadly that hasn't translate to home life.

My son enjoys it too. They are set for maths and literacy but in mixed ability groups for everything else. I think he likes being allowed to work with his real friends rather than only the ones who work at the same level and speed as him. However the school has a big focus on valuing everyone for their differing talents and recognising that to make a good team you need a balance of inputs - I think that's an essential life lesson to be honest.

In general DS is happy enough to be in a group but ot depends on who he's put in a group with!

I have a boy, so he'd prefer to be with other boys. If there has to be a girl, he hopes its one of the "better" ones i.e. the ones who don't try to turn everything pink or make that shrieking noise that offends him. (sorry).

Also, he's not to keen on being in a group with someone who doesn't pull their weight, or takes credit for other people's contributions. I think that's fair enough really.

Dd says everyone sits back and let's her do all the work because they know she wants the result to be good

Lots of people prefer to work in groups.

Lots of people prefer to work alone.

The preference doesn't matter. Successful people do both.

Try framing group work similarly to playing sport? Talk about camaraderie and team spirit? Two heads are better than one, and all of those cheesy sayings? There must be an age appropriate film about teamwork somewhere.

Would it help to compare it to something else?

For example, how would she feel if no-one wanted her to be on their team for football because she wasn't very good at it? It would feel bad and they would be being unkind. It's the same with academic work.

"Dd says everyone sits back and let's her do all the work because they know she wants the result to be good"

You need to mention this to the teacher- if you're sure it's true...........

Of course, it's always possible they sit back and let her do the work because she makes it clear that their work isn't good enough.

Your DD needs to accept that group work (which admittedly can have problems) will be part of her education until she's left university. And then she'll find that she has to work with other people (who may not always be competent) when she gets a job.

This isn't a G & T issue, it's a social issue.

Um, but it's also an introversion/extroversion issue.

School work has increasingly become more and more orientated towards group working, which doesn't suit everyone. And there is an underlying belief that extroversion is 'better' and introversion is something that needs to be cured (the Quiet book is very good on this). So while she might have to learn to put up with it, there is no reason to pretend she enjoys it.

I would talk to the teacher, until you do this you won;t know whether it's a social thing, whether it's down to temperament, or whether she really is carrying the can for the whole group.

I have one introverted one extrovert child. Both hate group work at school - when there is one very able child in the group the work is NEVER divided up evenly. I think it is a problem with the way that schools set and monitor group tasks tbh, since DD is a great team player in other settings.

The teacher has told me about it in the past, doesn't seem to matter who she works with either apparently

She's the least bossy person I know and also plays in several ensembles so she understands team work

"Do any of your children view group work more positively"

No, unless it's the right group of children and it rarely was when DD was at primary. Group work is largely faddish ideological twaddle which was almost compulsory for a while courtesy of Ofsted, but times are changing. I think this is a delightful little article around the topic (and note where it is):

www.theguardian.com/teacher-network/teacher-blog/2014/sep/21/group-work-school-quiet-reflection

It sounds odd.

If the teacher knows about it, why isn't she overseeing what is happening to make sure everyone makes a full contribution?

Would she give your DD permission to just do her share (and maybe loudly forbid DD from doing any more than that) and then if that's all that gets handed in, then the others will look bad and maybe do something next time?

One teacher, 5 groups of children, several low ability children that need support but don't qualify for 1:1

There will always be an element of just getting on with it

and a full-time TA?

Did the teacher say just get on with it?

They don't have a full time ta in class

There will be several "low ability" children in pretty much all classes. That is utterly irrelevant. Mixed ability is mixed ability. If it is happening no matter who she works with, then the common denominator is her. It is likely that she needs to step back and allow others to take the lead or actively encourage a group effort by bringing everyone into the project/work.

I suppose it depends to some extent what you think school's for. I think one of the things it's for is to learn how to work with others. To be part of a team. Maybe your dd does get lumbered with the bulk of the work- in which case she needs to find strategies to stop this happening. Maybe she dominates the group and insists on doing everything- in which case she needs to learn to involve everyone. Some people Re not good team players- but everyone has to learn how. Primary school is a good time to start.

DD used to feel this way, then got an excellent science teacher in Y5. The science teacher gave them a whole lesson on how the best scientific discoveries were the work of collaboration. Every other week she swaps the groups so they end up with a range of abilities and enthusiasm, but generally produces great results. They are not marked just on their results but also on their teamwork and observations about how they may have done things differently given that project again. This practice has led to DD happier in groups in other classes where she wasn't previously content - except for maths where she excels and finds most scenarios hold her back.

FWIW, I asked both my children what their experience of working in groups was at primary school. They went to 2 different schools, so have experience between them of four, different, non-overlapping sets of children that obviously sub-divide into a large number of sub groups.

Both DC said that every single time there is something to be done through working in groups, there will be a child who has a vision of how the work should be done and what the end-product should be. They will think they have the best answer and will determinedly force their vision on the others. Sometimes there are 2 people like that, so they argue it out between themselves.

If your DD strives for perfection and is the only common factor, then maybe she is that child when in the company 2 or 3 others? It could be that she's more pushy with other 7 year olds than she is with you?

There's a good blog on this here:

www.learningspy.co.uk/behaviour/effective-group-work/

Take the hint from their repeated use of the word "effective" i.e. in practice a lot of it simply ticks boxes and is not effective.

I was really surprised (7yo DS is my dim child) that he says the others in his groups are always asking him for the answers. We talked thru a few different strategies for him to try so that he can get his own work done without annoying distractios. I think he's moving towards telling the others to work by themselves for a while and he'll help them when he's done.

I was high ability in school, socially awkward & introverted. Group work was good for me because it earnt me respect of peers.