When I was a high school senior, I was selected to be part of a leadership development program provided by a local civic organization. The culminating event for the program was the preparation of and execution of a group project. I loathed that project. My disdain was not for the content (we got to choose our path) or the final presentation (give me the microphone any day!). No, the issue was that I was working with others who were not as motivated to deliver a quality product. Throughout that project, there was conflict regarding decisions that needed to be made, the amount of work that each student on the team needed to complete, and communication in general. In the end, we met the requirement and the leaders of the program seemed rather pleased with our work.
I wish that Lauren Porosoff had written the book Teach for Authentic Engagement, back in the 1980’s. If she had, I would have benefited from knowing more about how to help ease some of the pain of collaborative projects. In the book, Porosoff shares the following protocols for helping navigate collaborative projects (pp.152-160):
- Topical appraisal. Ask students to generate a list of ideas for the project. Then have students evaluate each possible idea using a likert or similar scale. Provide opportunities for students to articulate their rating in writing. Review the evaluations and make a decision.
- Committed action protocol. Ask students to provide specific and concrete examples about what works well in groups and what doesn’t work well in groups. Chart the responses. Have students review the charts in their working groups and determine which of the favorable things they are willing to do to ensure the group is successful.
- Accountability check-in. As an exit activity from a group work session, have students review the items they committed to do. Have them reflect on which commitments they kept, which commitments produced struggle, why they struggled, how they can improve next time, and how they can repair any harm done to the other group members.
As you prepare for the next week, think of how you can take these three protocols into your student group work. You and your students will be glad you did!
Phil Harrison Coaching 