Practitioner enquiry: Supporting peer relationships by taking an online cooperative learning approach with upper-primary age pupils

Abstract

Education delivery had to evolve during the Covid-19 pandemic as children could no longer have face-to-face contact with peers and teachers, as formal education would previously have allowed. Due to this a practitioner enquiry approach was adopted, to determine whether online cooperative learning would increase peer connections, reduce loneliness, and make education less boring/more engaging. Five academic weeks into lockdown, 16 pupils from primary six and seven took part in a cooperative learning task using Google Meet for video conferencing (N=16). Pupils were asked questions about their experiences which were analysed using content analysis. Prior to the task, pupils commented about their experience of lockdown with the most frequent comments about boredom, missing friends and family, and worry. Following the task, the most common responses were about seeing and talking to friends, enjoyment and wishing to use Google Meet again. Areas for future research are considered and implications for practice for schools, psychological services and the wider authority are explored.