Learning in Groups Is Overrated

Learning needs thinking. We don't learn if someone else does the thinking for us. When students are forced to work in groups, they might learn how to collaborate, deal with conflicts, and function as a team. But they’ll probably learn very little about the actual topic of the project.

Deep learning happens when you sit with an idea, question it, reflect on it, and wrestle with it in your own mind. Group work often skips this part, with some students doing the heavy lifting while others just tag along.

That doesn’t mean group learning is useless. If done right, it can challenge kids to think differently and expose them to new ideas. One way to balance this is to let the students dive into a topic individually first to build their own thoughts, and then come together to share and refine those ideas. That way, they grow both as thinkers and collaborators.