When tried in recently desegregated classrooms, the jigsaw approach
has generated impressive results. Studies have shown that, compared
to other classrooms in the same school using the traditional competitive
method, jigsaw learning stimulated significantly more friendship and
less prejudice between ethnic groups. Besides this vital reduction in
hostility, there were other advantages: Self-esteem, liking for school,
and test scores improved for minority students. And the white students
benefited, too. Their self-esteem and liking for school went up, and
their test performance was at least as high as that of whites in the tradi-
tional classes.
Gains such as these cry out for more detailed explanation. What ex-
actly goes on in the jigsaw classroom to account for effects we had long
ago lost hope of attaining in the public schools? A case study provided
by Aronson helps us to understand better. It relates the experience of
Carlos, a young Mexican-American boy, who found himself in a jigsaw
group for the first time. Carlos’s job was to learn and then convey to
his team information on the middle years of Joseph Pulitzer. A test on
the famous newspaperman’s life would soon face each group member.
Aronson tells what happened:
Carlos was not very articulate in English, his second language,
and because he was often ridiculed when he had spoken up in the
past, he had learned over the years to keep quiet in class. We might
even say that Carlos and the teacher had entered into a conspiracy
of silence. He would become anonymous, buried in the bustle of
classroom activity, and not be embarrassed by having to stumble
over answers; she, in turn, would not call on him. Her decision
probably came from the purest of motives; she didn’t want to hu-
miliate him, or watch the other kids make fun of him. But by ig-
noring Carlos, the teacher had, in effect, written him off. She was
implying that he was not worth bothering with; at least that was
the message the other kids got. If the teacher wasn’t calling on
Carlos, it must be because Carlos is stupid. It is likely that Carlos
himself came to the same conclusion.
Naturally, Carlos was quite uncomfortable with the new system,
which required him to talk to his groupmates; he had a great deal
of trouble communicating his paragraph. He stammered, hesitated,
and fidgeted. The other kids were not helpful at all; they reacted
out of their old, overlearned habit. When a kid stumbles, especially
one they think is stupid, they resort to ridicule and teasing. “Aw,
you don’t know it,” accused Mary. “You’re dumb; you’re stupid.
You don’t know what you’re doing.”138 / Influence