Why are we forced to work in groups at school?

Question

its great for the slackers but its not so great for people who can get stuff done on their own.

Answer 1

When you get into the real world it is likely that you will need to work in groups. Group work in school will be good preparation./

Answer 2

the teachers know this, they understand that there are people who dont do a ton of work and it all depends on how the groups are put together, if they get to choose their own groups they are held more responsible as a group and if the teacher puts the groups together, they may be more understanding that maybe one person might not deserve a certain grade or a certain group becuase they didnt do their work. i hope that helps and makes sense. <3

Answer 3

Yeah, tell me about it!  I hated that I had to do all the work.  Also, what made it worse was that when the marks were good everyone took credit for it but when the marks weren't so good they all complained even though i had done most of the work with not much help by them!  Anyway the reason is to teach you to work with others.  It is meant to help as some jobs require team work.  I never liked working as a group and i don't do it for work either.  I love working in my office alone!

Answer 4

There are pros and cons to working in groups. Hopefully, not all your work is done that way. Learn to be a motivator for the slackers in your groups instead of providing the answers for them. The idea behind group learning is that the slower kids will be pulled up by the smarter ones, and also that the different learning styles and personalities will help each other produce a better project when they are together. But you may have to provide more than the others, simply because your standards are higher. I think the harder workers get the raw deal in these group projects, too.

Answer 5

It teaches you to deal with slackers.

And theres less work for the teacher to grade

Answer 6

It's for the slackers, so everyone stays motivated.

Answer 7

It teaches us things such as working as a team and leadership, which can be very useful once you hit the workforce I guess??

I know though, it sucks, I often prefer working alone.

Answer 8

In the real world (after you are done with school) you have to work with other people. No matter what you do for a living, other people will be involved. Some will be helpful to work with, some will only get in your way. Learning how to work with others, how to get things done in a group, where some of the kids are doers and some are slackers, teaches you a lot more than you might realize about group dynamics, leadership, and cooperation. And yes, it's a pain when you are motivated and they're not, but it's a very important thing to learn.  

Answer 9

I agree 100%, they do this on the college level also. What they are attempting to do is to teach us to work well with others, to be able to come up with ideas and solve things as a group.

The best thing to do is once you get a good idea who in your class is willing and able to do the work, join up with them when you get into group projects.

The other thing I have done is when the professor put me in with a slacker/slackers, as soon as the class was over that day, I would go to the professor and say "YOU have put me with someone who I believe will bring my grade down, is there any extra credit work available so I am not penalized by this other person". That gets the point across very clearly.