How to encourage and manage active involvement in group work

Learn tips for encouraging active involvement in group work in low-resource context classrooms with mixed-level learners.

Happy group of South Asian learners in their classroom

In this video, Merium Aftab from Pakistan shares teachers' ideas about managing mixed-level classes and encouraging learners who do not contribute to group work.

To ensure each individual contributes, she recommends grouping learners according to their level of proficiency and assigning each one a task. Making group work count for final assessment can also encourage active involvement in a grade-oriented system such as hers, so she suggests careful monitoring and evaluation of learners using notes and observation charts.

Discipline during group work is also a problem, but involving learners in the rule-making process and getting group leaders to enforce them is one way of dealing with this. For group work to succeed, every learner needs a part to play and each one needs to play their part.

Watch 'How to encourage and manage active involvement in group work'

Reflection and discussion

One of the purposes of these resources is to help you with your own teacher development in related contexts. If possible, discuss the following questions with colleagues. 

  • What can you do to ensure that all learners are involved in group work?
  • How do you manage groupings to encourage all learners to participate?
  • What else do you do to encourage effective group work in your context? 

If this video is not available for viewing in your location, please click here.

The video was first published in 2016. 

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