“Not Too Formal”: Strategies to Support Grade 6 English Students to Strengthen Collaboration and Relationship Skills · ICGS Research Library

Title

“Not Too Formal”: Strategies to Support Grade 6 English Students to Strengthen Collaboration and Relationship Skills

Author

Liz Joyce

Year Published

2022

Description

There is a commonly held belief that girls avoid confrontation and engagement in “hard” conversations with peers. In this action research project, I set out to challenge this assumption, while also looking to understand what communication strategies and relationship skills the students already had and regularly employed. This research was conducted over the course of approximately eight weeks in late Fall 2021, with 10 Grade 6 students in their English class of which I was not the assigned teacher. By focusing on how teaching specific strategies impacts the abilities to strengthen collaboration and relationship skills, lessons were designed and implemented to target self-awareness and interpersonal communication skills. Students were taught strategies that enabled them to communicate more directly with peers as well as challenge their own thoughts and perceptions. Student feedback was regularly solicited in the form of surveys, writing prompts, class discussions, and a focus group midway through the project. The students’ feedback was critical to the process as it guided and molded the presentation of lessons as well as the format of the last classes. Findings from this project reinforce the importance of creating a safe and supportive environment for girls to share their thoughts and feelings. Overall, girls need to feel a connection with materials and security in their relationships to give meaningful feedback, engage in deeper discussions, and access their problem-solving prowess.