Oct 28 2008
I Like My Stakes Done Well
The Evil | Heterogeneous Classroom Groups
Remember growing up, and being assigned to break off into sections with a handful of other students? How did that go for you? Probably horribly, and I have half an idea why.
Your teacher, either in her infinite wisdom, or the handed down wisdom she was forced to bring to order, divided you into populations with a little bit of variety. Usually this was organized by perceived intelligence, or demonstrated work ethic. Fantastic, she thinks, I have six groups, and about 10 kids who actually want to accomplish anything. I can’t have the slackers wasting time talking to each other, so as long as I seed the smart people properly, the remedial kids will be lifted up by those that surround them!
Foolproof, except that those kids are remedial for a reason. Being smart or playing the game to get good grades isn’t some elitist badge you wear, it’s a challenge and it serves an important purpose. You get in a certain mindset and your force yourself into a goal-oriented mode. Then you take whatever you’ve got and you apply it.
Let those kids stick with the others who understand them and accomplish things in the same way and they’ll come up with something really special, or at least be so busy and into their own worlds that they won’t bother you.
Let the remedials stick with each other. They literally have the same approach, and being amongst similar people means they won’t have an inferiority complex which will stunt their progress.
The biggest part of being a remedial isn’t stupidity but laziness. One of two things is going to happen:
- Someone has to arrive out of the bunch to save their collective hides and get something done, which is the same scenario as the heterogeneous groups except you’ve taken the burden and punishment off of the smart kids, or
- They’ll realize they can each provide just a little which suits their laziness and adds up to a completed project, and generally speaking these kinds of kids are unmatched at group efforts as long as they’re around like minds.
Maybe one day when everyone has had to prove themselves to get somewhere, or reach some threshold that equalizes them, like being degreed or reaching a pivotal position in a department, then you can do homogenous groups and be satisfied. Things have to get done and they will. You can’t, however, rely on kids to do well what makes sense to adults. They simply aren’t cognitive, and it will only lead to resentment from the kids that actually serve you best.
My name is Victor Marsala, and after the fiftieth time I’ve done all the work for a presentation only to have a “partner” show up in pajamas and pigtails in community college (c. 2003) staring blankly at the back of the room and “umm”ing while getting angry at me for some reason, I approve this message.
