{"id":60563,"date":"2021-12-02T00:26:44","date_gmt":"2021-12-02T05:26:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/world.edu\/?p=60563"},"modified":"2021-12-02T00:26:44","modified_gmt":"2021-12-02T05:26:44","slug":"small-group-learning-can-mitigate-the-effects-of-school-closures-but-only-if-teachers-use-it-well","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/world.edu\/small-group-learning-can-mitigate-the-effects-of-school-closures-but-only-if-teachers-use-it-well\/","title":{"rendered":"Small-group learning can mitigate the effects of school closures \u2013 but only if teachers use it well"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"
\nSchools aren\u2019t just where kids go to learn reading, math, science and history. The social skills they learn \u2013 like how to build and maintain relationships with peers \u2013 are also\u00a0critical<\/a>. This is particularly true as schools grapple with the\u00a0aftereffects of school closures<\/a>\u00a0due to the COVID-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n

As an\u00a0education researcher<\/a>, I have dedicated\u00a0my career<\/a>\u00a0to understanding how peer relationships affect young people\u2019s behavior, mental health and academic success, and how teachers can enhance peer relationships through the proper use of\u00a0small-group learning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Warm and supportive peer relationships have wide-ranging positive effects, most notably on children\u2019s\u00a0academic success<\/a>. On the flip side, anxiety and depression are often\u00a0preceded by peer indifference or rejection<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 or, during school closures, by\u00a0social isolation<\/a>. Drug use and dependence often arise when\u00a0socially marginalized youths band together<\/a>\u00a0and experiment with delinquent behavior. Students with few or no friends are often the\u00a0target of bullies<\/a>, and racial disparities can be at least partially attributed to\u00a0discrimination<\/a>\u00a0by peers.<\/p>\n

These challenges existed long before COVID-19, but the\u00a0pandemic made them worse<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 particularly for economically disadvantaged youths, who\u00a0suffered disproportionately<\/a>\u00a0during school closures.<\/p>\n

A greater emphasis on\u00a0improving peer relationships<\/a>\u00a0through small-group learning \u2013 what educators refer to as \u201ccooperative learning\u201d or \u201cpeer learning\u201d \u2013 can go a long way to addressing many of these setbacks.<\/p>\n

How \u2018peer learning\u2019 works<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Most parents have likely heard their child complain about a group activity at some point. Their child may have been involved in a group where there were no specified roles, no incentives to help one another and no accountability for individual contributions to group success. In such a lesson there can be conflict within the group or an unfair division of responsibility. This often results in a negative experience, both academically and socially.<\/p>\n

Such informal small-group lessons lack the structure of peer learning, which calls for\u00a0certain design features<\/a>\u00a0that make small-group instruction much more likely to be successful.<\/p>\n

First, well-designed small-group lessons give each student a unique role or task within the group so that the success of the group depends on each member\u2019s contributions. The teacher designs the lesson with these roles or tasks in mind and ideally assigns them to group members at random.<\/p>\n

Second, each student is held accountable for their specific role or task by both the teacher and the members of their group. This can be done by having a grading scheme for each lesson with both an individual grade and the opportunity for group members to earn additional credit tied to the success of the group as a whole.<\/p>\n

Third, teachers define and reinforce the social skills that are needed to work successfully in small groups. For example, teachers can define a key social skill at the beginning of the lesson such as \u201cencouraging others to participate in group discussions.\u201d The teacher provides sentence starters \u2013 such as \u201cWhat do you think about \u2026 ?\u201d \u2013 for students to use and then listens for and reinforces the skill during the lesson.<\/p>\n

Finally, teachers allow time at the end of the lesson for group members to reflect on their experience. Group members can pinpoint ways they can work together better next time and also provide one another positive feedback.<\/p>\n

These four design features are vital to the\u00a0success of cooperative or peer learning<\/a>\u00a0and are relevant whether learning is conducted in person or\u00a0online<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Benefits of positive peer relationships<\/strong><\/h4>\n

Studies show that the positive relationships arising from peer learning can lead to\u00a0lower stress levels<\/a>,\u00a0fewer mental health problems<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0improved behavior<\/a>, including less frequent\u00a0bullying<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0drug use<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Peer learning lessons can even serve to\u00a0change attitudes<\/a>\u00a0about members of other racial or ethnic groups, which can lead to\u00a0less prejudice and discrimination<\/a>\u00a0and fewer\u00a0racial disparities<\/a>. And a vast amount of research finds that students simply\u00a0learn better<\/a>\u00a0in properly structured small groups as compared with working alone.<\/p>\n

Some parents may worry that a focus on improving social relations comes at the expense of academic achievement. But making time for building social skills doesn\u2019t necessarily imply less time for academic learning. In fact, a great deal of research shows that both social relations and academic achievement can be enhanced simultaneously with\u00a0peer learning<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In short, increased use of peer learning can help schools deal with the negative academic, social-emotional and behavioral repercussions of the COVID-19 pandemic, helping children build a future defined by social acceptance, academic achievement and enduring success.<\/p>\n

Author Bio:<\/strong> Mark J. Van Ryzin is Research Associate Professor in Education at the University of Oregon<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Schools aren\u2019t just where kids go to learn reading, math, science and history. The social skills they learn \u2013 like how to build and maintain relationships with peers \u2013 are also\u00a0critical. This is particularly true as schools grapple with the\u00a0aftereffects of school closures\u00a0due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As an\u00a0education researcher, I have dedicated\u00a0my career\u00a0to understanding […]\n… learn more→<\/a><\/p>","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[15645],"tags":[269074],"coauthors":[11733],"class_list":["post-60563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","tag-peer-learning"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nSmall-group learning can mitigate the effects of school closures \u2013 but only if teachers use it well - World leading higher education information and services<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/world.edu\/small-group-learning-can-mitigate-the-effects-of-school-closures-but-only-if-teachers-use-it-well\/\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Small-group learning can mitigate the effects of school closures \u2013 but only if teachers use it well - World leading higher education information and services\" class=\"yoast-seo-meta-tag\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Schools aren\u2019t just where kids go to learn reading, math, science and history. The social skills they learn \u2013 like how to build and maintain relationships with peers \u2013 are also\u00a0critical. This is particularly true as schools grapple with the\u00a0aftereffects of school closures\u00a0due to the COVID-19 pandemic. 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