cooperative working

The end of our cooperative project has arrived.  The presentation of work takes place on Monday which means we are at the rounding up and finishing off stage. 


Normally I am very guilty of leaving things until the last minute but when working on group projects something strange happens and I become obsessed with completing everything promptly, being super organised and everyone having a clearly defined role.


Previous posts on this subject haved looked at our group dynamics and an article by Johnson and Johnson based on the benefits of cooperative learning.


With the end always comes the contemplation aspect; the reflection on how you have worked both personally and within your group.  This can go in a variety of ways; if the project went well then reflection will be very positive and can perhaps be minimal.  If there were a few hiccups along the way this provides opportunity for identifing improvements in both practice and strengths and weaknesses in all areas.  If there are multiple problems with group dynamics or processes it can be extremely difficult to step back and evaluate in a balanced point of view.  In the latter case it can be most beneficial to privately reflect then critically evaluate these reflections.  Without first doing this it would be easy to steamtrain and not be objective.


The above introduction was written prior to my reading the following quote:


"Studies report that peer learning promotes greater conceptual and procedural gains for students, accommodates a broad range of learning styles, results in greater enjoyment of the learning task, and encourages a stronger persistence in learning (Johnson & Johnson, 1999)." (cited in Cooper and Marie, 2002)




I freely admit that there were times that I struggled to work collaboratively during the course of this project.  There are a number of reasons for this and frustration has been a regular visitor to my emotional repertoire over recent weeks.  I have complained my way though many conversations, moaned to generally anyone who showed the slightest sign of listening (and even some who did not) and yet I failed to pin down what was bothering me the most.  I thought it was based on impressions that some of the group were not participating as fully as they could have or that I was feeling the burden of taking on more than my share of the work.  

Within groups there is often a person who takes a lead role, my intention had been to step back and avoid becoming this person.  I often find that I take on this role and appreciate that this is due to my personality but I tried to make a conscious decision not to do so in this project.  I thought it was important to let others experience this role.  Yet, perhaps by trying to stand back I caused myself more frustration than if I hadn't.  Linking to my earlier observation on the effect of group work to my personal working strategy and to the above quote from the Theory into Practice Journal I can see a link; my working strategy is transformed due to the demands of cooperative working.  It is not just the end result that is motivating me but the concept that others are reliant on me pulling my weight and fulfilling my allocated work to the best I can.  With this drive I begin to mentally put pressure on others that I work with, expecting the same process to be occurring within their minds.  This is when I become the uber complainer.  


I cannot expect people to hit early (and unmentioned) deadlines: in the same way we all learn differently we all work differently.  If I have an assignment due I mull it over, think about it and eventually write it, often quite near to the deadline.  This is my individual working style, I have accepted that this is how I work and no longer worry that I haven't completed assignments a fortnight early.  Despite this a seemingly irrational part of my brain begins to rage when a group member hasn't done exactly that; complete a task two weeks early.  


Having acknowledged my personal demons with cooperative working I have a greater understanding of why I have found myself struggle so much with this project.  This is not to say that there have not been other shortfalls in work ethic but this is a self assessment not a peer assessment and sometimes a public blog is not the place to carry out this kind of activity. 


Without going through this process I would not have realised any of this therefore my personal development has gained alongside my professional development.  I have enhanced my communication and organisational skills, I have gained experience of filming and editing for an educational purpose, I have extended my presentation skills through our wikispace (link to follow) but most importantly I have learned more about myself and this is inarguably the steepest learning curve.