The Group, Collaborative & Cooperative
Retrieved from: http://www.sacredheartteddington.co.uk/2011/07/reception-class-over-the-year/dsc00399/
What is group learning?
Group learning is any learning environment whereby students are working with one or more students. Group learning involves students collaborating, cooperating and communicating to achieve success in their learning (Hertz-Lazarowitz, Kagan, Sharan, Slavin & Webb, 2013).
Group learning is an important learning space to implement into your classrooms. It allows for social interaction, shared ideas and teamwork. Group learning can take form in small independent groups, teacher directed small groups or cross-class collaborations (Gillies, 2006).
Retrieved from: http://www.charlottecountryday.org/page.cfm?p=524
For Teachers:
Teachers can guide students through group learning, however teachers are also able to observe many different groups and analyse the way in which they all collaborate and learn. This provides teachers with more insight about their class and the way that the students best learn, which in turn, helps them plan for future lessons (Sharan, 1980).
Teachers need to effectively execute group learning otherwise students can lack structure and fail to achieve their learning goals. A weakness of using group, collaborative and cooperative learning spaces is that teachers need to constantly ensure that students are focused on their learning, not distracted and are using group collaboration to the best of its ability. Group collaboration needs to be a space where students are questioning, creating, sharing and discovering (Sharan, 1980).
Retrieved from: https://www.myedresource.com/seeing-instead-of-being-told/
For Students:
Group, collaborative and cooperative learning spaces are a great environment for students to share their learning with their peers. Through group work, students are encouraged to become active learners and participate and contribute to their group. Through active participation, students are taking responsibility for their own learning and the learning of the members in their group (Slavin, 2010).
Group work allows for social interaction and it can enhance students social skills. Students are required to be socially interactive when working in a group which enables them to develop strong social skills and learn how to appropriately interact with others (Hertz-Lazarowitz, Kagan, Sharan, Slavin & Webb, 2013).
When working in groups, students are able to discuss, question and explore new ideas which leads to higher level thinking and new ideas are being formed. Group work benefits those students who are yet to have developed higher order thinking as they are experiencing new ideas and learning that they wouldn't ordinarily think of themselves (Sharan, 1980).
Whilst group learning has many benefits for students, there are also some weaknesses to this learning space. Depending on the group of students working together, the workload may not be delegated equally, leaving some students with an increased workload or more responsibility.
Group work can also be ineffective if students do not work well in groups. Although working in groups can lead to great discussion, sharing and collaborative learning, if the students in the group are not working well together, there will be a significant lack learning occurring (Sharan, 1980).
Retrieved from: https://www.melbournechildpsychology.com.au/blog/facilitate-group-work-classroom/
How can we improve our school environment to promote the group, collaborative and cooperative learning space?
- Create areas in classrooms that promote social interaction and collaboration
- Design the classroom space that encourages interaction rather than individual learning spaces
- Allow for designated time for students to collaborate to discuss ideas
- Promote questioning and discussions throughout all learning experiences
- Set out expectations and understandings for group work, ensuring that students are familiar with the expectations
- Allow students to express themselves and their own ideas and learning processes in a collaborative environment
"Alone we can do so little. Together we can do so much." -Helen Keller