Today, as we mark the beginning of a new semester for all Villa College students. I congratulate and welcome all student and staff to the January 2021 semester.

Many students embarking on a new journey may feel anxious as to what the next 3 years will bring. My advice is to embrace it with an open heart and mind, as this will be an adventure to get to know yourself better through reflection and learn a vast amount of knowledge and skills in your selected fields.

I want to give one very essential bit of advice…when you are assigned a group task, take up the challenge.

I write about this because this is an area in which many students have had issues. As a lecturer, whenever group tasks have been assigned, both as a class task or a task to be done by the students in their own time, we have seen a lot of hesitation and complaints. The main complaint is that all members do not contribute equally.

The purpose of these tasks is not only related to the content that you learn. As we can see even in the competencies in the National Curriculum, ‘relating to people’, we need to learn to work collaboratively with people, communicate effectively with a diverse range of people, negotiate and resolve conflict, and listen actively and take turns (NIE, 2015).

Therefore, I suggest we learn to accept that not everyone can contribute equally in exactly the same way. If you think about equal time, how can a student (who is employed and takes care of a baby) give the same amount of time that a student who is living with their parents (also not in a job) can give? But where time becomes an issue for one member of a group, they may be able to contribute in other forms. For example, they could help in the use of ICT, contribute creative ideas, lead the project/task, etc. All member can contribute in the way that they are best skilled and trained in, and in the process, we all learn.

It does not, however, mean that we leave behind those who do not contribute at all. We have to try and encourage them to be involved. There may be several reasons that a particular student does not feel comfortable working with others. It may be due to previous experiences or their self-confidence, it is up to us to help them develop themselves by giving them a helping nudge.