Is it feasible to hold concurrent, small-group, peer-managed discussions in large elementary school classes? We sought an initial answer to this question in a fifth-grade class in Hefei, China. The 52 students in the class were divided into seven small groups. The seven groups held four simultaneous discussions without immediate supervision or…

This paper explores issues emerging from the authors' experiences of collaborative research in Ghana, by researchers from a Ghanaian and a British university. The text emerges from discussions between partners and in retrospective reflection on the research process. It is constructed by bringing together personal accounts of the different authors…

Globalization changes the composition of the adult classroom, increasing diversity and bringing new associated teaching and learning problems; problems with group work. Educators may have goals to teach transferable multicultural group working skills yet learners find such work more challenging, showing a propensity to form groups containing…

The state and status of higher education in different countries and regions has been the subject of considerable debate, research and publication; yet little continental scale research has been undertaken except in the United States of America. This paper reports on large-scale cooperation taking place in European higher education. It particularly…

This article draws on material from a case study of a group of young people involved in ongoing public decision-making in a local authority. The group of young people is compared to a political interest group and insights from the literature applied. It is argued that two of the strongest resources the group had to offer adult decision-makers were…

Methodological diversity has enriched higher education research. One area about which little is known is the dynamics of multi-investigator multi-institutional projects. This paper examines what happens inside a large-scale, team-based research project with an emphasis on decision points related to methodology and reporting results. Systematically…

This article examines the role that self-perception plays in predicting academic performance of cooperative learning groups in graduate-level research methodology courses. A total of 29 groups (n = 102 students) are examined. A series of multiple regression analyses reveals that the groups attaining the lowest scores on the article critique…

This article investigates the complex interrelation between ethnic and gender diversity, process and performance among groups of business students. The article is based on an empirical survey of business students working on a complex assignment in groups of two to five in a small Swedish university. The results indicate that gender diversity leads…

The purpose of the present investigation was to examine the role of self-perception in predicting performance of cooperative learning groups in graduate-level research methodology courses. A total of 29 groups was examined (n = 102 students), ranging in size from 2 to 7. A series of multiple regression analyses revealed that the groups attaining …

This article examines the code-switching (CS) practices of culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) young children in kindergarten and grade 1 classrooms. The author argues that their use of CS went beyond relief of psycholinguistic stress or coping with liminality (sense of living between two languages and cultures). Through several narratives…

Souldrama[R] is a therapeutic, psychospiritual group action model that leads participants through seven sequential stages of spiritual development with the goal of accessing their spiritual intelligence. It can help group members move past resistance and recognize and move on to their higher purpose. Psychodramatically based, it is intended to be…

The author evaluates how school procedures may feel to a child and advocates the creative use of group size and configuration to encourage young children's positive social and emotional growth. Jones offers anecdotes from her preschool, in its farm setting, highlighting the use of errands, partner activities, and teamwork. She discusses the…

This article considers two small groups of students in the same Grade 8 mathematics classroom whose approaches to the same mathematical problem result in very different experiences. Using videotapes and written transcripts, an analysis of the groups' working processes was undertaken using Sawyer's pre-existing structures required for the presence…

Followership, being an understudied concept, raises fundamental questions: How did followership develop? Why do people submit into becoming followers? The developmental trajectory for the development of individual attributes is as yet, uncharted. Current study provides an overview of assessed attributes of followers, as proposed by Antelo (2010).…

This paper describes use of social network analysis to examine student interaction patterns in a Grade 5/6 Knowledge Building class. The analysis included face-to-face interactions and interactions in the Knowledge Forum[R] Knowledge Building environment. It is argued that sociogram data are useful to reveal group processes; in sociological terms,…