Nineteenth International Conference on Diversity in Organizations, Communities & Nations

Abstract

This study focuses on teacher roles during the application of specific group cooperative strategies in a mixed ability class where students have different cultural backgrounds. The research is based on the principles of intercultural education and a theoretical framework of cooperative teaching and learning. Five (5) core co-operative teaching methods were implemented, covering both competitive and exclusively cooperative models of team behavior: (a) Teams-Games-Tournaments, (b) Complex Instruction, (c) Group Investigation, (d) Simulation and (e) Think-Pair-Share. It used a qualitative approach and a two-month action research project was applied in a multicultural 5th grade class of Volos, Greece, where both Roma and non-Roma students attended. The research tools for data collection were (a) the instructor researcher’s observation diary (fieldnotes) and (b) a team semi-structured interview with the students carried out by the instructor researcher. The results show that the instructor plays many different roles during the application of the aforementioned methods which have different impact on the students. In each of the five methods, a predominant role is highlighted. This role is determined by the number and qualitative assessment of specific reactions that the instructor displays while teaching. In each of the models the teacher role differed: motivator for Group Investigation and Simulation, wanderer for Complex Instruction and Think-Pair-Share and neutral presider for Teams-Games-Tournament. The results are discussed according to the structure of the five cooperative methods as well as the particular form of the class.