Making children do group-work has one headache. Of course, children like to work but making groups can be a long diplomatic process. They want to work with some and not with others. Then there is the girls-boys divide. Teachers have their own wishes. Teachers want well-balanced groups with mix of talents. There is no easy solution to this.
I braced for long-drawn negotiations as I announced the group-projects in the first class. I asked some kids to chose their group-members. It took some time for trading the members with each other. In the end we got grudging but well-balanced teams. Ready to work together.
In the next class however, I was in for a surprise. The entire class unanimously said that I should make groups as I wish ! They didn't want to wait to find out. They refused to go for lunch till we made the groups. This was unheard-of. I made the groups and they just accepted their partners. Naturally I asked. It seems, this class has been polarized for a while now - amongst girls-boys, and even amongst each other. So everyone in the class could see that there was no possible nice way to group themselves. In one remarkable moment, everyone agreed that they all should accept the groups I make - and work together.
Sometimes intense differences can lead to cooperative behaviour in such surprising ways. In the face of intractable, children are able to see and accept the Greater Common Good.
I braced for long-drawn negotiations as I announced the group-projects in the first class. I asked some kids to chose their group-members. It took some time for trading the members with each other. In the end we got grudging but well-balanced teams. Ready to work together.
In the next class however, I was in for a surprise. The entire class unanimously said that I should make groups as I wish ! They didn't want to wait to find out. They refused to go for lunch till we made the groups. This was unheard-of. I made the groups and they just accepted their partners. Naturally I asked. It seems, this class has been polarized for a while now - amongst girls-boys, and even amongst each other. So everyone in the class could see that there was no possible nice way to group themselves. In one remarkable moment, everyone agreed that they all should accept the groups I make - and work together.
Sometimes intense differences can lead to cooperative behaviour in such surprising ways. In the face of intractable, children are able to see and accept the Greater Common Good.
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