All too often, group activities look like this:

Students in groups of four are working on a mind map (visual diagram of their thinking) about food. However, in one group, three students have seized all the marker pens and are doing all the drawing. The other group member is ignored whenever she wants to draw or even contribute an idea for what to draw. Why is she being excluded? Because her English is not as good as that of her group mates. Or, perhaps, the other three are already friends, and the fourth is not part (at least not yet) of their friendship group.

When one or more members are excluded from a group, those excluded lose learning opportunities, and the group loses their input. This is why the principle of equal opportunity to participate constitutes a basic part of CL. For various reasons, even under ideal conditions, participation seldom will be exactly equal, but the possibility for fairly equal output from each group member should be built into the structure of the activity.

Reflective Break

Have you ever felt excluded from a group? What happened? How did you feel? What did you do about it? Did the situation improve?

Sample Response

I was in a group during a geography task, but I knew little about the relevant geography; so, everyone else but me talked. I felt ignorant and ignored. So, I volunteered to do the role of group reporter, which meant that I had to explain my group’s answer to the rest of the class. Therefore, the other members needed to teach me so that I could report well. I was no longer excluded, and I learned a lot.