Intellectual authority and participation in group work.
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| Title: | Intellectual authority and participation in group work. |
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| Authors: | Cifuentes, María Beatriz (AUTHOR), Solar, Horacio (AUTHOR) |
| Source: | Oxford Review of Education. Oct2026, Vol. 52 Issue 5, p634-650. 17p. |
| Subjects: | Participation, Group work in education, Peer relations, Collaborative learning, Education research, Social interaction, Power (Social sciences) |
| Abstract: | In group work, learning is mediated by participation: participation involves actively contributing to group decisions and activities and accepting these contributions from peers. From this starting point, we integrate the perspective of power relations, assuming that classroom interactions are not neutral and that asymmetries may mediate students' participation in group work. Although there are studies on the distribution of intellectual authority among peers, how intellectual authority is related to participation has yet to be studied more deeply. Our study's primary purpose is to understand how the distribution of intellectual authority relates to participation in group work. A qualitative approach research and case study was conducted. Participants are four groups of elementary and middle-school students from two large cities in Chile. Through deductive-inductive coding performed by constant comparison, three different modes of distribution of intellectual authority were found: shared, concentrated, and disputational. Opposite to concentrated authority, shared authority is related to the predominance of cohesive group work. Disputational authority is related to group fragmentation and invalidating discourses among students. In conclusion, by having autonomy in the distribution of authority in group work, students build participation structures that can give or take away the floor to the contributions of others. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
| Copyright of Oxford Review of Education is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.) | |
| Database: | Psychology and Behavioral Sciences Collection |
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| Abstract: | In group work, learning is mediated by participation: participation involves actively contributing to group decisions and activities and accepting these contributions from peers. From this starting point, we integrate the perspective of power relations, assuming that classroom interactions are not neutral and that asymmetries may mediate students' participation in group work. Although there are studies on the distribution of intellectual authority among peers, how intellectual authority is related to participation has yet to be studied more deeply. Our study's primary purpose is to understand how the distribution of intellectual authority relates to participation in group work. A qualitative approach research and case study was conducted. Participants are four groups of elementary and middle-school students from two large cities in Chile. Through deductive-inductive coding performed by constant comparison, three different modes of distribution of intellectual authority were found: shared, concentrated, and disputational. Opposite to concentrated authority, shared authority is related to the predominance of cohesive group work. Disputational authority is related to group fragmentation and invalidating discourses among students. In conclusion, by having autonomy in the distribution of authority in group work, students build participation structures that can give or take away the floor to the contributions of others. Implications are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
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| ISSN: | 03054985 |
| DOI: | 10.1080/03054985.2025.2539398 |
