Jigsawing Discussion Strategy: Explanation
This task promotes teamwork and sees learners working with a variety of different people.
Begin by dividing the class into groups of four.
Provide each group with a hand-out.
On this there should be a list of four tasks or questions, all of which relate to the topic of study.
Each group should look through the list and discuss the different things on it, though only briefly.
They should then decide who in the group is going to be in charge of each item.
It is one task or question per person (hence groups of four and lists of four tasks/questions).
Having decided, group members should spend around five minutes working on their item.
When the time is up, the teacher announces that the groups are to break up and that new groups should be formed, containing individuals who are all focussing on the same question/task (if this means group sizes that are too big, allow two groups per question/task).
These new groups then have 10-15 minutes to work on their questions/tasks together.
Finally, the teacher announces that the original groups are to re-form.
These groups now contain four ‘experts’ who can explain their results to each other in detail. This final discussion helps everyone access all the learning that has taken place.
Jigsawing Discussion Strategy: Example
Topic: Christian responses to suffering
Each group is given a hand-out containing the following questions:
- What different ways might Christians go about making ethical decisions?
- How might a Christian try to explain the existence of suffering in a world made by God?
- Why might a Christian use the teachings of Jesus to help them work out how they should respond to suffering?
- In what ways might a Christian choose to respond to suffering and why?
The questions have been designed so that they partially overlap but also cover ground of their own.
This means there are a range of options that can play to different learners’ strengths.
It also means that in the final discussion (when the original groups re-form) each member of the group will be able to make a unique contribution and that the different contributions will fit together, like a jigsaw, to give an overview of the whole topic.
The teacher might choose to follow up the final discussion with some whole-class feedback, a mini-plenary reflecting on what has been learnt, or a written task in which the different parts of the jigsaw can be brought together and captured in learners’ books.
Jigsawing Discussion Strategy: Extensions and Developments
- Increase group sizes to five. This is challenging but does allow each group member to follow a more specialised path. If the logistics can be successfully managed, this greater specialisation can lead to each group gaining a more in-depth understanding of the topic.
- After the final discussion, ask groups to work together to capture the thinking and discussion they have done. This could be in the form of a large poster, a report or a presentation.
