APIE Education for Positive Peace course...

Group Work and Collaborative Learning

What are Home Teams/Learning Teams?

Home Teams or Learning Teams are groups that are formed when the teacher organises the learners strategically, into groups that work together, at the beginning of each term. When you want the learners to have small group discussions or to collaborate and do group work, you tell the learners to get together with their Home/Learning Teams. Groups of four work well, because each foursome can be subdivided into pairs, depending on the activity.  Umubano Academy calls these teams 'Home Teams'.

At Umubano Academy, learners get to know their classmates very well as they frequently work with them in their Home Teams over the course of the term and they may even continue these friendships outside of the classroom. Using Home or Learning Teams in your lessons removes the time it takes to organise learners into groups each time you wish to have them do group work. However, because learners will be working with each other over a long period of time, be careful about how you assign them to groups, taking into consideration the behaviours of different learners and how they interact with each other.