Introduction
The following essay is concerned with the importance of social interaction to learning. This essay begins by examining the meaning of social interaction as well as the knowledge or learning.
It also explores the various forms of social interactions, social interaction strategies and the major challenges of the social interaction as far as learning is concerned.
Knowledge involves a social science where people interacts with one another and with the social sorroundings.Learning entails communicating as well as appreciation of the human race as well as the social environment that they interacts with on daily basis.
Social interaction entails the means through which people acts and also reacts to others. Social interaction therefore is a daily affair that involves people who have different roles as well as status and it can take the form of verbal as well as non verbal communication.
Verbal communication entails the communication upon which two or more properly interacts face-to-face and it involves such components as language, speaking among others. Misunderstanding is thus eliminated as a result of verbal communication.
Non-verbal communication is a form of social interaction which involves the interactions through the use of signals, body movements among others. In social interactions, the group’s actions thus has an effect with regards to an individual i.e. one gains some knowledge or tends to develop a habit as a result of social interactions (Goodnow &Warton, 1992, 18-26).
In learning however, social interaction is crucial as it enhances the mental as well as the social aspects of a child. The main reason as to why people interact socially is to pursue common objectives. The relationships that are created as a result of social interaction are crucial as far as learning is concerned (Gergen, 1999, 15-17).
Social interaction strategies
Social instruction starts when a tutor introduces the objective to be achieved to the students. The students then are grouped into teams upon which they discuss among themselves so as to come up with findings. The tutor’s main role is that of monitoring the teams so as to ensure that they carry out their tasks in accordance with the set objectives.
The instructor facilitates the teams by providing the students with guidelines concerning the topic.
The instructor also ensures that all the students takes part in the interaction and that rules are followed. the steps that are followed during the social interaction includes; the instructor introduces the concept, students are grouped into discussion teams, the students then carries out the facilitators’ role of negotiating, compromising as well as explaining the concepts under the guidance of the facilitators, students carries out the role of assessing their work and finally, the students presents their findings (Gergen, 1999, 15-17).
Importance of social interaction to learning
Social interaction has some benefits as far as students’ learning is concerned. Some of the benefits are discussed below;
Social interaction helps to improve the learning strategies. Social interaction enables the learner to discover the situations that are distressing unto him or her. This thus enables one to modify his or her behaviors so as to realize positive outcomes.
Social interaction enables a person to understand other people’s behaviors and so a learner can improve his or her learning strategies by modifying his or her negative behaviors.
The other aspect in which the social interaction can help one to improve his or her learning strategies is that it enables one to become a good listener as well as learning how to accept responsibility with regards to actions that one takes.
Social learning has been considered as an ideal teaching strategy because it encompasses all levels of learning i.e. from kindergartens up to the time when one completes his or her secondary education.
For instance, the adolescents socializes with one another by sharing their feelings ,supporting each other emotionally as well as learning to view things form their colleagues’ perspective (Burr,1995,12-17).
Social interaction is important because it does not discriminate the learners with regards to their objectives or ethnic group. It thus provides an environment where people from different origins can interact freely with one another so as to achieve a common objective.
Social interaction helps to enhance the perseverance in learning i.e. the achievement of the group goals provides the students with a motivation to work hard and persevere.
The social interaction enables students to increase their individual efforts so as to enhance the group grades The social interaction enables students to be involved with regards to school community and thus the ability to maintain trust as well as manage the conflicts(Goodnow &Warton,1992,18-26).
Social interaction usually helps to reduce the work of an instructor. The instructor only provides guidelines and assist where the students have been met with changes, the students think, communicates and shares information among them (Burr, 1995, 12-17).
The groupings usually have an effect as far as the achievements of students are concerned due to the fact that those students who are of low ability are usually motivated by ones who have high ability and hence they end up performing well.
As the students interact in a group, they share ideas as well as the opinions concerning so as to work out a certain question. The instructors on the other hand encourage the students to continue working in teams so as to achieve more.
Social interaction enables the students to workout problems on their own and this enables them to gain experience in solving future related challenges. The instructors through social interaction are able to identify those students who have poor socialization skills for instance those students who never ask questions and hence come up with solutions on how such students can be assisted.
When a student is performing poorly, he or she may not be willing to interact freely with his or her colleagues and so, the instructor is able to identify the problem and hence intervene so as to enhance the performance of the student.
When students are grouped in teams, they are given the motivation to put extra effort so as to achieve their objectives. The social interaction gives the students healthy competition which enables them to focus on their goal attainment (Goodnow &Warton, 1992, 18-26).
Social interaction is important because it enables students to enhance their communication skills. For effective learning to take place, there is need for proper communication. Both verbal and non verbal communication enables the students to interact with others.
With this regards to communication, social interaction enables students to have high esteem upon which they communicates effectively with their colleagues. The social interaction helps to improve the communication skills of students by enabling them to become good listeners.
The social interaction helps students to overcome fears associated with large crowds and also making them to be assertive.Communication skills as a result of social interaction thus enables the students to be relaxed and thus to think and also to act in given situations(Burr,1995,12-17).
Social interaction plays an important role of enhancing the student’s interpersonal skills. It thus enables them to get over their shyness and be in a position to exchange ideas with others. Interpersonal skills enable the students to gain self confidence which in turn helps them to succeed as far as their learning is concerned.
The students usually feel free to share ideas with others and thus they are able to discuss about anything. The interpersonal skills as a result of social interaction enables the learners to coexist peacefully with others as it assists them to refrain from using offensive language or hurting others in one way or another.
The students are therefore careful while speaking with their colleagues because the interpersonal skills that they gains as a result of social interaction enables them to figure out their mistakes and hence to change their behaviours so as to attain positive outcomes (Bruce, 1987, 34-38).
Social interaction helps students to develop a positive attitude towards school.Usually, the students are very curious with regards to their leaning environment. The school enviroment, workloads, their fellow students, rules and regulations as well as the parent’s ambivalence often affects their attitude towards school.
The social interaction enables student to develop positive attitude towards school in that, the workload is discussed among the students and so the students are not overwhelmed or bored as a result of workload problem.
The social interaction makes learning to be more interesting due to the fact that the students shears information for problem solving. Social interaction also provides a conducive learning environment hence making students to develop a positive attitude towards school.
The students know their responsibility and so there is no confusion at all. The students are able to discuss the challenges that they face with their instructor and hence the solutions are devised so as to help counter the challenges.
The other kids often help a student to have a positive attitude towards school. They motivate a student to work hard so that the group goals can be attained. The student also learns important skills from his or her fellow students (Bartsch, & Wellman, 1997, 96).
Social interaction increases cohesion among students i.e. the degree to which the students are attracted to one another. More cohesive groups are usually more serious and more effective in achieving their goals since there is often greater communication among the students.
This in turn leads to higher satisfaction among the students, decreased tension and more pressure to conform.Usually, the main reasons for group cohesiveness could be the personal attractiveness of the group members, the attractiveness of the group tasks to be performed or the prestige of belonging to the group.
As the group achieves its goals, cohesiveness increases. Large groups are often less cohesive as compared to small ones. The high status of a group and outside pressure on the group can make the students to move closer to each other resulting in greater cohesiveness.
Social interaction with regards to learning is important because it helps to set out the individuals’ role. A role is a set of shared expectations concerning appropriate behavior.The set role is the set of expectations which members of the role set conveys to the individuals (Smith, 1996, 7).
The social interaction often helps to create norms and expectations with regards top learning. Norms are expectations about how remembers ought to behave e.g. students should always be smart or behave in a certain way e.t.c.This norms may relate to performance,honesty,teamwork,loyalty or anything else the group feels is important.
Norms apply only to the students’ behaviors and not to the private thoughts and feelings of the group members. They generally develop only in relation to those matters that most group members consider important.Thus, if a student behaves in a way that violates the group norms, the group members can exert pressure for conformity to those norms.
Social interaction enhances the student’s retention i.e. the students persist in completing their education in certain schools. Social interaction plays an important role of ensuring that students are not transferred to other schools or otherwise switch their classes within the school.
The relationship that exists between students plays an important role as far as student retention is concerned. Thus the students’ groups ensure that workload is shared and therefore, the students don’t find their learning to be cumbersome.
Students are likely to persist in a particular institution where the students’ are given a chance to express their attitudes and values. Usually, students in a learning institution come from different backgrounds and therefore, the social environment enables them to interact and fit well into the institution.
Social interaction helps to increase participation i.e. it provides the students with an environment where they can participate in leaning activities as well as discussions. The groups enable the students to come closer so as to develop an understanding concerning a situation by way of sharing of the ideas.
The social bonding enables the students to get committed to the group discussions. The instructors too also facilitate the discussions among the students and this is important as far as the goal attainment of the group is concerned.
The increased participation with regards to school activities as well as programs ensures that the student’s life in the learning institution is enhanced.
The participation as a result of social interaction helps to understand the student’s needs. Each student is given a chance to express his or her views concerning an issue and this in turn enhances their understanding (Burr, 1995, 12-17).
Social interaction enhances negotiation with respect to understanding. Negotiation entails two people with a difference in which they initiate a discussion attempting to solve it and bring in a consensus that satisfies their interests.
This also happens n social interactions among students where students discuss issues in which they differ and reach an agreement. The success of negotiation may entail the parties making promises to each other to comply to the terms and conditions of the agreement reached.
The students may choose to negotiate so as to; solve a problem, develop new procedures for handling a problem, change perceptions, educate each other about a particular view of an issue or concern, ventilate emotions about each other e.t.c. (Lave,1988,54-61).
In social interaction, learning occurs as a result of interactions among the students. The interactions often lead the students into conflicts. The social interaction enables students to gain reasoning skills which they use in resolving the conflicts.
Social interaction helps the learner with regards to discovery and exploration i.e. the students are able to learn in a more appropriate manner as compared to when they an independent situation. The social interaction enables students tom acquire greater social skills upon which they interacts effectively with their colleagues.
The students relates with each other through asking questions or providing explanations on certain issues. The exploration enables students to allow discovering many things by themselves and the instructor assists them only when the need arises Exploration is associated with inductive learning that enables students to remember most of things that they have learnt by themselves and hence increases their motivation to learn more things.
Social interaction I important as far as learning is concerned because it enables the students to cope with challenges even after school. The students thinking capacity is greatly enhanced as a result of social interaction.
The students also learns on how to co-think once faced with challenges i.e. they confronts the issues together and this is vital since it enables a student to learn on how to face problems in the future (Bartsch, & Wellman,1997,96).
In social interaction, the options that are available for communication are usually much wider and therefore, there is extended opportunities with regards to classroom participation. This is important because it provides the students with ample opportunities upon which they can construct knowledge.
Social interaction is important because it enables the students to establish such aspects as their personality. As the students interacts with others in school. they often leans such behaviors as the importance of respecting other people’s belongings, the act of sharing with others, the importance of sympathizing with others among others(Fodor,2000,16-18).
The social economic inequality often affects the performance of students and therefore, the social interaction n enables students with from different backgrounds to interact together and this helps to improve their performance. Social interaction thus does not segregate as far as learning is concerned.
Students who come from poor families are thus mixed with those students who hail from rich families and this is ideal since it enables the students to compete on a fair playing ground.
Social interaction usually provides an environment upon which the disabled students are able to interact freely with those students who have no physical disability. This is important as it respects the right of the disabled as well as their promoting their dignity.
Social interaction enhances freedom on the part of the student. As they interact with their colleagues, the students get to know of their rights and they thus become knowledgeable as far as their individual rights are concerned.
The students also become interdependent as a result of social interaction.This are because the social interaction enables them to solve problems on their own and thus them and this gives them self confidence (Fodor, 2000, 16-18).
Finally, social interaction does not end with school implying that the students will apply the social skills that they gain in their respective careers.Thus, those students who have undergone through social interaction are usually self centered and they are able to communicate effectively with their colleagues.
They therefore don’t look miserable when confronted with challenges. Students needs to interact with others so as to learn the simple rules of the society and in turn be socially acceptable.
Social interaction teaches the students their right as well as the wrong things with regards to the society in which they interact with. It thus enables them to create relationships and also how to deal with any kind of situation (Claxton, 1997, 76).
Limitations to social interaction
The following factors can contribute to social interaction; incompatibility or perceived incompatibility between students’ goals, requirements and desires. Differences in students’ motivation can also contribute to limitations as far as social interaction in learning is concerned.
For instance, the differences between the goals of the instructors and those of the students.Sometimes, the students find themselves in a situation where the membership of their group is compulsory or in a situation where they don’t like working in a particular group.
There may also be challenges whereby the individuals in the group reset the style of leadership or the kind of strategies that the group leaders use in order to persuade and direct the fellow student’s e.g. intimidating, threatening, bullying tactics e.t.c. (Kress, 1997, 34).
Countering limitations to social interaction
The following are important with regards to countering the challenges that are associated with social interaction in learning; the student in a group should be encouraged to air his or her objections and doubts.
The construction of worst-case-scenarios should be encouraged that may result from decisions.Also, the alternatives as well as plan contingencies should be explored.
Learning issues to be dealt with should be presented initially in an impartial way without stating the preferred outcome or expectations. The bigger group should also be subdivided periodically into smaller groups (Kress, 1997, 34).
Conclusion
Social interaction is very crucial as far as learning is concerned. It has been used in learning for many years with an aim of enhancing positive interactions among students. Social interaction plays a vital role with regards to learning. Most people have gained while at school through sharing of their problems with their classmates or teachers.
This implies that one learns from the others and others learn from an individual. The mere act of sharing of ideas and information is usually crucial as far as gaining of knowledge is concerned.
The discussions withy the rest of the students often enables them to acquire much knowledge and hence helps tem to improve their grades. Social interaction also ensures that the positive changes are infused so as to enhance the student’s individual development.
Reference List
Bartsch, K. & Wellman, H., 1997. Children Talk about the Mind. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Bruce, T., 1987. Early Childhood Education. London: Hodder and Stoughton.
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Claxton, G., 1997. Hare Brain and Tortoise Mind. London: Fourth Estate.
Fodor, J., 2000. In Critical Condition: A Bradford Book Massachusetts. London: IT Press.
Gergen, K., 1999. An Introduction to Social Construction. London and Thousand Oaks, Ca: Sage.
Goodnow, J. J. & Warton, P., 1992. ‘Contexts and cognitions: taking a pluralist View’ in P. Light and G. Butterworth (Eds) Context and Cognition: Ways of learning and knowing. Hemel Hempstead: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
Kress, G., 1997. Before writing: rethinking the paths to literacy. London: Routledge.
Lave, J., 1988. Cognition in Practice. Massachusetts: Cambridge University Press.
Smith, A., 1996. Accelerated learning in the Classroom. Stafford: Network Educational Press.