A Familiar Refrain: Making Meaning in Groups

I found this article on interactive learning in a journal on learning science. The article is by Gerry Stahl (full citation below).

His interest is in the interactivity that online classroom technology can facilitate, though what he says is relevant for all creative enterprises in groups. I found the idea very attractive for its analogy to group improvisation:

"This 'sharing' is not a matter of individuals having similar understandings, but of them participating productively in a joint meaning-making discourse within a communal world. A group has achieved intersubjectivity if the members of the group interact well enough to pursue the group’s aims."

In other words, these individuals (students, in this instance) are not just sharing information with each another, desirable as that may be: they are creating something. Making discourse within a communal world should be existentially fulfilling.

The relevance for jazz and improvisation hardly needs to be underscored.

Stahl's ideal, applied to performing music, would be that groups make not just music, but meaning. Think about it. We've heard the notes before, but what does it mean (to us, our audience, to future improvisations).

And in the case of classroom dynamics: students are not just pooling their effort and exchanging information. They are making something that would not have been made otherwise, and is unique, and not replicable by individuals. I take Stahl to mean he will settle for nothing less.

By the way, I understand "intersubjectivity" to simply mean, you know what I'm talking about, and I know what you're talking about. There is sufficient grounds for real communication. (The US House of Representatives would be a negative example.)

Of course, Stahl does not see this dynamic as mere play:
"Intersubjectivity must be built up gradually through interaction and repaired frequently."

Fair enough. I commend you to this article, then:

Stahl, Gerry. “Conceptualizing the Intersubjective Group.” International Journal of Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning 10, no. 3 (September 2015): 209–17. doi:10.1007/s11412-015-9220-4.

A working version is available free! The magic of open access publishing.