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  Home > Resources > Teaching FAQ's > Sliding Groups

Sliding Groups

"Sliding Groups" is a loose term for a loose discussion format. Its value lies in its process of "sliding" the structure of the classroom up and down levels of interaction: from individuals reflecting on a topic, to pairs sharing their reflections, to four-person groups synthesizing their concerns, to general class discussion-and back down the chain again, whenever one format stops eliciting productive discussion.

To conduct a discussion with a sliding format, begin by introducing the whole class to the topic of the discussion. For example: "The Book of History is an important document in the history of China. Today we are going to try to figure out what it says about the politics of Chinese culture at the time.")

When you feel all your students are oriented to the topic, tell everyone to spend two or three minutes jotting down any ideas, questions or issues they have about the topic. For example: "Take out a piece of paper and write down some ideas or opinions you have about what The Book of History says or does. Anything that comes to mind, as long as it relates to the Book or Chinese culture." Let them interact with you staying out of it as much as possible.

Next have individuals form pairs and discuss the ideas they came up with. What is each person's view on the other's issues? For example, "O.K., now pair up with someone and compare notes. Keep working on the question: what was going on in China at the time and why did the authors sit down and write The Book of History? Come to some agreement about the purpose of the Book." Keep on the sidelines, as before.

Now tell each pair to find another pair, and continue the process of exchanging information and opinions in four-person groups: "Each pair grab another pair to form small groups and keep going. How does The Book of History present the world to its readers and why would the authors write it that way?" Again, let the groups form their own ideas, and try not to answer any questions.

Finally open the topic up to the whole class, using the energy the groups have created. Have each group report on what issues they felt were most important and why. Then get interaction going among the groups: pick one group's issues that you think are particularly valuable and have another group comment on those issues. Then ask groups to relate their own issues to the issues of another group, and so on. For example: "Group One, you have some points about Chinese culture at the time that are interesting. Can you relate them to Group Three's ideas about what The Book of History says about the 'Mandate of Heaven?'" Pick a third group to synthesize the points of the first two groups, or whatever feels right. By this time, you should have a fairly lively interaction.

If, however, things start to bog down or sidetrack, "slide" the class into a different format: into quartets, pairs, or all the way to individual reflection. Give them a question or topic that you feel heads in a productive direction. This topic can come from something said earlier, or your own notes. Fore example: "O.K., we're covered ground about the feudal wars, and that is important. But before we get ahead of ourselves, we need to spend a few more minutes on The Book of History. Everybody take a sheet of paper and spend a minute writing down your reactions to what the reading said about the purpose of education in Chinese society." After a minute or two: "Now bring those ideas back to your groups and relate your ideas about the purpose of Chinese education to the purpose of The Book of History."

(The goal of this discussion is to get students to realize for themselves the secularization of Chinese society. The educational system trained people to become bureaucrats, and the "Mandate of Heaven" in The Book of History was a "spiritual" justification for one dynasty's conquest of another, subordinating religion to politics.)

The advantage to sliding groups is that they allow you to continue class discussion in a different way when one format doesn't work or stops working. It mixes up the energy in the room and keeps students interacting around the course content, making it harder for topics to get "stale."

If you use sliding groups often, it is a good idea to regularly change which students are grouped together, to keep the class from falling into a routine. However, like any teaching technique, it is important not to use sliding groups to the exclusion of other techniques.

 

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