Home | How It Works | Stats Login | Register         Case: Cannot Cooperate Aisha is known as a responsible and smart student. I have known her for the last two years, but this year is the first time she is taking one of my classes. She is in my 10th grade US History class. Recently, I started using small group projects in my class. I simply want my students to learn to cooperate, exchange ideas, and produce the project together. Although Aisha is willing to take part in these small group projects, she does not want to be in groups with male students because of her religious beliefs. When she told me about this, I told her that she was in the United States and that she had to work with whoever she is in a group with. In the first group project, Aisha was in a group with three males and one female students. She simply did not participate in any of the group activities. I wonder if should reconsider my original position on this issue and accommodate Aisha by having her work only with girls. Would I be doing her a disservice? What should I do? Solution: (Rates are posted for this solution!) At some point in her life, Aisha is going to have to learn to work with males if she wants to continue living in the United States. However, placing her in a group with males is only hurting her learning potential. I think the best thing to do would be to start slow. Instead of placing her in a group with three males and one female, I would try putting her in a group with majority females. For example, maybe place her in a group with three females and one male. I would try to be smart about what male I placed in her group. If this is successful, you could try adding another male, but I would not push it too far. The most important thing is that our students learn, and if placing her with males is causing her learning to decline; then, it is not worth it.