ERIC Number: ED393138
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1996
Reference Count: N/A
Children's Voices on Group Work: A Playlet. Reading Research Report No. 49.
West, Jane; Oldfather, Penny
Children have much to teach educators about the kinds of group work that enhance their social, emotional, and cognitive development. Using children's own words, this playlet juxtaposes third-grade and fifth/sixth grade views of how group work helps and hinders their school experiences in literacy learning. Students in both age groups experienced similar benefits of group work including sharing ideas and the burdens of work, having access to help, and learning to cooperate, among others. Most of the differences between the two contexts related to problems of group work. The older students, particularly, experienced a tension between group membership and their own developing autonomy. The challenge of the teacher developing sense of self and individual identity are maintained while the values inherent in group work are nurtured. Contains 33 references. (Author/RS)
Publication Type: Reports - Evaluative
Education Level: N/A
Sponsor: Office of Educational Research and Improvement (ED), Washington, DC.
Authoring Institution: National Reading Research Center, Athens, GA.; National Reading Research Center, College Park, MD.