Though the reality of school is being a part of a larger community, the specific idea of group work can be polarizing among students and teachers alike. Books and films in particular exaggerate the intensity of being placed with a mix of people you might not have chosen yourself, but, to high school students, it can be a larger issue than a grade.
For Stephie Kosmas ’24, it’s a mixed bag. Kosmas spends her second-hour in English teacher Harry Campion’s eclectic classroom for Creative Writing class. Having mastered some essential skills of writing, the class is now oriented towards putting them to practice through four forms of writing. Ideas and rough drafts are evaluated by groups of fellow students. Eventually, final copies squeeze their way onto Campion’s desk, sandwiched between bookish coffee mugs and colored pens.
“I think I really like the way Mr. Campion does it, where, even though it’s a group project, it’s all graded individually,” Kosmas said. “Their work is not reflective of you, which I think is very nice.”
Still, Kosmas has dealt with complications both in and out of Campion’s class: a lack of diversity in groups. She recalls often being placed into a group of all men, and how that has changed her experience. In general, any group can become problematic when the effort put in isn’t mutual from all sides.
“I don’t really like group work, because I feel like most of the time you end up doing more of the work, or the other person ends up doing more of the work….it’s really hard sometimes to either be the leader or and find the leader in the group, which can be really frustrating,” Kosmas said.
Science teacher Todd Hecker vaguely remembers collaboration-related aggravation during his years of schooling. However, during his time spent teaching in Farmington, he used group work as a support system rather than a line of dominoes.
“I gave assignments, I’d have [students] work in groups so that if they got stuck they’d have other people they could ask for help with, and if nobody in the group could help…I’d come in and help the group out,” Hecker said.
Hecker takes group work at its face value, recognizing that combining knowledge is useful, but also that submitting individual work is just as valuable depending on the situation. Ultimately, Hecker looks at collaboration as more than just an assignment, rather as a bigger picture.
“In any workplace, you’re gonna be in a group or a team…so, I think in a lot of senses, the group work is more just about learning to work with people than it is about the actual content,” Hecker said.
In terms of mental health, the impacts of group work may vary. It can depend heavily on someone’s comfort level with other people, according to school Psychologist Lisa Khoury.
“Different people need different levels of socialness, but I do think it helps with that social interaction and connection,” Khoury said.
Like any human interaction, group work can broaden the minds of each member. Even if it’s something as small as how a slideshow is formatted, new skills and perspectives can be introduced.
“I think it gives you a taste of working with different kinds of people…sometimes, if left to our own devices, we sort of stick to the people that we know…in group work, you’re assigned random people that you wouldn’t typically connect with, so I think that is nice, too, because you get exposed to different ideas and ways of doing things,” Khoury said.
Group work, like anything, carries its own benefits and drawbacks. In high school, the drawbacks can seem doubly daunting. The experience and skills gained from it; however, can overcome this.
“What I like about group work is that it helps to teach lots of different skills to everybody that’s in the group,” Khoury said. “It’s about how to get along with others, and also communication skills, organization skills, leadership skills…all of those components go into group work, which I think sometimes is not as evident or apparent when you’re in high school and you’re the one doing all the work.”
