“How are you at working in groups?”
“Erm, urr, erm, errr.”
My mind recoiled as I instantly envisaged myself at secondary school again. Spotty, dressed in black, greasy hair and most importantly not yet out of the closet. I would be perfectly happy going about my work when the teacher would suddenly decide it would be a fantastic idea to do group work. Group work: the bane of my secondary school years. I’m not saying I’m not a team player and that I can’t work in a group but the teacher would always separate me from my friends and put me with the worst possible group of people. I still don’t understand why they would do that.
My name would be called, followed by the hot boy who beat me up, the girl who shouted abuse at me and a pair of blondes who couldn’t spell apple if their lives depended on it. I would sigh and go and join them. We’d be given some various task in which everyone would look at me expectantly and I would get to work on the project that was supposed to be done by five people but instead entirely done by me.
Why? Why? Why? If group work is to be forced upon secondary school children then they should be allowed to work with whomever they chose. I’m highly aware that the thuggish types would gather together, do nothing and fail; I’m highly aware that the giggling girls would gather and talk about boys (I wish I was in their group) and fail; and I’m highly aware that the geeky types would gather and get an A; but that’s fair, isn’t it?
I think this pie chart sums up what I’m trying to say in its entirety.
Maybe if I showed the interviewer lady this pie chart then she might have given me the job…
I totally know this feeling and, while I can manage group work now, I hated it in high school, often trying to persuade the teacher to let me do it on my own (which worked a few times) as I hate when not everyone pulls their weight with a project. If you want something done right, it's usually better to do it yourself.
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