Interactive Group Activity: A Socially Mediated Tool for Opening an Interpretive Space in Classroom Research
Source: International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, Volume 26, Issue 8, 2013, pages 1019-1040
An Interactive Group Activity (IGA) is one of several data collection strategies used during the action research phase of the Connecting Curriculum, Connecting Learning project (2010–2011) focusing on arts-based curriculum integration.
The present article concentrates on the IGA tool as a means of uncovering children’s meaning making following an extended period of learning.
Of particular note is the use of an arts pedagogical device to introduce the IGA to children, a device that frames the purpose of the task.
In effect, the IGA acts as a group assessment device underlining the socially mediated nature of children’s learning.
This paper describes how the IGA tool evolved, gives its form and structure, argues for its affordances and suggests possibilities for its wider use.