Group Learning

For the purposes of this task, I will reflect upon an observation (Appendix 5a) in which I actively planned an activity for a group of children at heart my modelting (Appendix 5b). I selected a group of 6 pupils, of interracial ability, from years one and two. I then wrote down my preconceptions on how this group might work together (Appendix 5c). I initially considered, as young children can be quite self-absorbed (Blake and Poppet 2008), failing to understand how an otherwise persons point of view may differ to their own (Campbell 2006), there could potentially be a lot of talking oer each other and little co-operation on the whole.

The task set for the group to do involved collaborative work so they had to work together on one group outcome, instead than an individual one. One child, as predicted took the lead, representing the chair person role. The other children responded well to this. A pair of children attempted to be riotous from time to time, and another seemed to act as the secretary, onerous to write a lot of their ideas down. I noticed a more equal child aiding a slight able child attempting to label some cards. The less able child then completed this success bounteousy, but I am certain he would not have been able to get through this alone.



This was an excellent example of a child work at heart the Zone of Proximal Development, a theory developed by Vygotsky, which describes the gap between what a child can do alone and what a child can do with the help of somebody more skilled (Pound 2005). MacNaughton and Williams (2004) tell us childrens learning is maximised when within their upper ability. Bruner proposed children learnt through social interaction with others, and he referred to this as Scaffolding. With an sharp and a learner working together, the expert will gradually withdraw assistance until the learner is able to support himself. A child expert could be more helpful than the teacher acting as the expert . Smith et al (2003) explains that the...If you want to get a full essay, order it on our website: Orderessay



If you want to get a full essay, wisit our page: write my essay .