Friendships and learning in the primary school

Friendships and learning in the primary school: Interviewing pupils

Talking to young pupils in groups of 2 or 3 versus individually

Issues of:

Age

Gender

Ability

The research topic

Advantages	Disadvantages
Sense of fun	Pupils may talk more to stranger, knowing that their responses are confidential
Feelings of importance	Quieter pupils may not contribute/be dominated important to choose groups wisely
More relaxed Less confrontational	Awareness of peers may restrict dialogue
Opportunity for discussion Exchanging ideas	Transcription may be difficult when it comes to identifying voices of different pupils important to mention names during interview as often as possible

...my dad told me that the main reason I've been bullied in 2 schools running is that instead of just being quiet as a doorknob and listening to what other people are interested in, I'm not too interested in what they're interested in. And there are some people who share my interests in this school, but I haven't used the ultimate science tactic, so they've become my enemies...I'm worried that people like Jamie might find friends who have got older brothers and sisters and they might start ganging up on me.

(year 6 boy)

I don't know because I like working with my friends and I can do that quite well, but I think I might go a bit faster if I work on my own. I'd rather be in a group with other people.

(year 6 girl)

Kathy sometimes distracts because she's quite talkative and gets people in a conversation where the works meant to be done.

(year 6 boy)

There's these boys who sit quite near me who are quite annoying and keep talking and being silly.

(year 6 girl)

And with Charlotte and Helen that I work with - we've both got ideas and we mix them together and they come out really really well...don't they (to Charlotte)...because my friends, we can help one another and we chat about our work - while we are doing our work. Yes, because friends share ideas.

(year 3 girl)

Age	Advantages	Disadvantages
Same age	peers have more in common	Restricted dialogue
Different ages	Older pupils can guide younger pupils	Less continuity/disengagement when conversation doesn't seem relevant
	Pupils of different ages approach subject differently "when I was in your year"

Gender	Advantages	Disadvantages
Same gender	More likely to talk openly	Don't always get the full picture
	More discussion with same-sex interviewer	Girls tend to say what interviewer wants to hear
Mixed gender	More open discussion	Limited discussion?
NB: may be important to choose groups wisely and to try and balance numbers of girls and boys

... when we were practising for a dance, the boys didn't know what to do - they just got in the way

(year 3 girl)

Ability	Advantages	Disadvantages
Same ability	Similar vocabulary levels	May not be representative of actual friendship groups
Mixed ability	Higher ability pupils may help pupils of lower ability to express their ideas/prompt ideas and vice versa	Higher ability pupils may undermine pupils of lower ability

Friendships	Advantages	Disadvantages
Friendship groups	More conversant about topic	May restrict dialogue in the presence of friends
Non-friendship groups	More able to talk in absence of close friends if controversial issues arise	Less enthusiatic about topic without their friends to discuss it with

Study of conversations between 10-year-old friends and non-friends

(Hartup et al. 1995)

friends:

Engaged in more mutually oriented and less individualistic utterances
Agreed with one another more often
Repeated their own and the others' assertions more readily
Posed alternatives and provided elaborations more frequently
Spent less time engaged in "off-task" talk