Improving the quality of pupils’ talk and thinking during group work

This digest found in

English
Speaking and Listening

Authors

Sutherland, Julia (2006)

Publisher

Literacy 40 (2) pp. 106-113

Introduction

How did teachers improve the quality of pupils’ talk and thinking during group work?

Evidence is building of the importance of collaborative talk in groups. The forms of talk in groups that are most effective for learning are exploratory in nature and make higher order demands on participants. Such talk is characterised by pupils asking questions that require other pupils to offer opinions, make hypotheses, give reasons and reflect, and all members of the group working to create a shared understanding. This digest explores how teachers can help pupils to work together in this way and how it impacts on their learning.

The action research study explored the effects of coaching student teachers how to structure and model pupils’ higher-order group talk in English. The teachers used a range of strategies including introducing the pupils to the ground rules of exploratory talk and modelling higher-order questions that probed their thinking and developed their understanding. By the end of the study, the quality and cognitive level of pupils’ group talk had improved. The pupils were more focused when working in groups, participated more equally, asked a greater number of questions, including higher-order questions and engaged in less off-task talk.

The study also revealed how implementing the approach effectively was not an easy task. One of the biggest challenges the teachers felt they faced was being able to guide pupils towards using the kind of talk that would develop their understanding, without dominating the discussion, as this would prevent the pupils from independent talk and thinking. Practitioners seeking to realise the power of group talk to develop pupils’ thinking and understanding will find reflecting on the experiences of the teachers and pupils in this study, together with the examples of their interactions, helpful.

Keywords: Literacy, Speaking and Listening, Questioning, Pupil grouping, Teaching and Learning

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Research Home Themes \| Find digests \| About the digests resources glossary researchers contact TRIPS Introduction How did the teachers structure and model effective group talk? How did the pupil’s group talk change? What did the pupils feel they gained from working in structured groups? What challenges did the teachers face when promoting group talk? How was the study designed? What are the implications of the study? Where can I find out more? Send us your feedback Collated digests To find out more about collated digests click here Get Word Reader Improving the quality of pupils’ talk and thinking during group work This digest found in English Speaking and Listening Send to a friend Word doc 60KB Printer friendly Collate for later Authors Sutherland, Julia (2006) Publisher Literacy 40 (2) pp. 106-113 Introduction How did teachers improve the quality of pupils’ talk and thinking during group work? Evidence is building of the importance of collaborative talk in groups. The forms of talk in groups that are most effective for learning are exploratory in nature and make higher order demands on participants. Such talk is characterised by pupils asking questions that require other pupils to offer opinions, make hypotheses, give reasons and reflect, and all members of the group working to create a shared understanding. This digest explores how teachers can help pupils to work together in this way and how it impacts on their learning. The action research study explored the effects of coaching student teachers how to structure and model pupils’ higher-order group talk in English. The teachers used a range of strategies including introducing the pupils to the ground rules of exploratory talk and modelling higher-order questions that probed their thinking and developed their understanding. By the end of the study, the quality and cognitive level of pupils’ group talk had improved. The pupils were more focused when working in groups, participated more equally, asked a greater number of questions, including higher-order questions and engaged in less off-task talk. The study also revealed how implementing the approach effectively was not an easy task. One of the biggest challenges the teachers felt they faced was being able to guide pupils towards using the kind of talk that would develop their understanding, without dominating the discussion, as this would prevent the pupils from independent talk and thinking. Practitioners seeking to realise the power of group talk to develop pupils’ thinking and understanding will find reflecting on the experiences of the teachers and pupils in this study, together with the examples of their interactions, helpful. Keywords: Literacy, Speaking and Listening, Questioning, Pupil grouping, Teaching and Learning