The purpose of this paper is to understand the approach to teaching in the Jena-plan by focusing on the position and role of group work in Jena-plan. In the curriculum of Jena-plan influenced by Dörpfeld, factual subjects, through which students learn about the human world, had primary significance. Group work, a kind of classroom teaching method to learn about life, was positioned as the basis of the Jena-plan curriculum. When working in groups, students learned about not only their own tasks, but also about the tasks of other students. Group work was practiced by group teaching method, aimed at liberalizing human relationships in the classroom, and created a responsive environment with circular seating and sharing background of the task. Petersen’s concept of group work was related to Herbart’s “Educative Instruction (erziehender Unterricht)”, as it combined “Education (Erziehung)” with “Instruction (Unterricht)”.