"Du har alltid en förlorare i ett grupparbete" : En intervjustudie angående samhällskunskapslärares upplevda problem och deras lösningar gällande elevers grupparbeten

Sammanfattning: Research shows that teachers’ use of group work in Swedish schools has decreased significantly since the 1980s, in favor of more individual- and teacher-led activities. The questions concern partly how the teachers perceive group works in their practice of teaching in social studies. Partly also how the teachers, through their design of the teaching instruction, can go about assessing the students' knowledge linked group work in a just way. The material for the study consists of previous national and international research in the area, regarding the view on group work and assessment of that style of teaching. Partly also based on seven individual, qualitative, and semi-structured interviews with social studies teachers, who are active in teaching in upper secondary schools. Hermeneutics has been used as a methodological framework, consisting of various principles of relating to and interpreting the material text. The results show that the teachers show a divided, but primarily negative view concerning group work in its traditional definition. The teachers perceive, on the other hand, more positive associations linked to smaller teaching elements that use smaller groups of students as a basis for example, discussion of tasks and political opinions. A recurring aspect that the teachers exhibit is the problem with assessing students' knowledge in the summary assessment of student work carried out in groups. Where both the working process and the final product may be shared between students. The teachers' theoretical and practical solutions to these problems range from lowering the priority of group work in their teaching to structuring tasks where students can show their knowledge in combination with the teacher observing the working process and including more opportunities for the student to show their knowledge for a more holistic assessment.