And then reality sets in. As you look around your room, you realize that half of your students are not working. To be specific, one student in each pair is not working. The more academically inclined or motivated student in each partnership has taken control of the activity, and the less inclined are happy to sit back and allow the work to be done for them. It's frustrating, and you're tempted to just end the whole thing and revert back to independent work.
Your first instinct wasn't wrong. There are enormous benefits to partner work. No one knows everything on their own, and all students should have the opportunity to have their ideas be challenged, praised, and validated by their peers. Working in pairs allows students a safe space in which to practice using academic language, voicing unconventional views, and taking ideological risks.
Of course, that's only if you can get your students to actually work in pairs.
