Group work and Learning In an Adult Environment

Even though I haven't implemented group work into my classes yet, I certainly see the potential and look forward to trying in the near future.

The advantages of group work in my opinion is that it fosters cooperation between children. In many cultures, education is competitive by nature and creates a selfish learning environment. This may be good for finding the best student, but is actually counter productive to finding someone that is productive when they are finally in the working world and forced into team situations. It's even worse if one is thrust into a group of leaders all vying for power and getting zero done. In addition individual learning in a traditional environment is limiting, as one is not open to the ideas of others and ends up being very insular in their perspective. 

However, group work is not all sunshine and rainbows, it runs counter to the current teaching paradigm. Making group work effective means changing a lot of the practices that instructors are used to. Teachers have to learn to facilitate group work instead of simply giving students things to do together while sitting back and having some coffee. Such an approach would only confuse students who do not naturally engage with others.

To me, the success of group work actually makes teaching more difficult, but it seems like an exercise that will foster a stronger generation of teachers who are flexible in their perspective and abilities. Teachers have to learn to work in a group with each other and with their students.