Written version of RIME paper (GCID) for MER, Exeter 2007
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on how to address them through group-organisation. So in most groups, pupils
themselves took over the role of encouraging everyone to join in, showing concern
about including each other, and discernment about what tasks would be suitable for
whom:
-Sophie: Because we got more practice now and we know how to work as a
team and we know who’s good at what and what who’s not good at what and
all that.
Not only did pupils say they communicated with each other well, but some said, for
example:
-Madeline: [We learnt] how to like communicate with each other a lot more.
Because this project, we didn’t have teachers to help us, we asked the rest of
our group how to do it, so we communicated more.
Many pupils volunteered that the reason why they were able to cooperate and
communicate in such ways was because they were allowed to work with friends.
Friendship was important, not only for the psychological comfort of group members,
but it is also of course crucial to being able to agree upon a choice of music in the first
place. For as we know, musical taste is integral to teenagers’ identities and social
group allegiances.
Peer-directed learning
The other main aspect of group cooperation that I wish to mention here, is what I refer
to as ‘peer-directed learning’. This is not a distinctly different aspect from group
learning, but is situated further along a continuum, from unconscious, implicit
learning via group interaction, towards a more conscious approach, in which
knowledge and skills are explicitly and intentionally communicated by one or more
group members to one or more others. For example, one group member may explain a
technical point, demonstrate how to play a bass line, take charge over how fast the