How could collaborative learning potentially impact on primary education?

Collaborative learning (CL) is an educational approach to teaching and learning that involves groups of learners working together to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a product (Laal et al 2012). It is by no means a fresh idea within education; as Piaget highlighted the important of peer interaction while Vygotsky (1978) noted that social interaction was at the core of the development process. In primary education CL evidently has a significant impact on the development of an individuals social and team working skills as highlighted by these theorists many years ago.

It must be understood that the fundamental learning processes that underpin learning must be present in order for children to work collaboratively. Simply talking with peers is essential for learning, it is the tool which we use to interpret, communicate, work through and make sense of our experiences (Lloyd & Beard, 1995). However, Klemperer argues that CL is not simply students talking to each other (1994). Collaboration is a philosophy that enables people to work together whilst recognising and respecting the abilities and contributions of others in their group. This is highlighted in Donaldson’s expectations (Donaldson, 2015) as he states the need for collaborative work in order to fulfill the expectations for all learners. To coincide with Donaldson, Hattie (2009) conducted research that also suggests that both cooperative and competitive learning are more effective for learners than individualistic approaches.

Within a Primary school, collaboration between many stakeholders can take place in order to enhance learning, development and education as whole. Below are a few of collaborations;

•         Local authority
•     Primary + Secondary – feeder schools
•     Surrounding primary schools
•      Local community
•     Global school links

Johnsons (1990) claims; collaborative learning promotes positive societal responses to problems and fosters a supportive environment within which to manage conflict resolution. Children develop their communication skills through interaction with others ultimately resulting in them becoming “Enterprising, creative contributors” as (Donaldson, 2015) hopes. Working collaboratively also has a positive impact when children are being assessed. Barron (2000a) suggests that even when assessed as individuals, those students who participate in group learning task tend to perform better when assessed than those who had only worked individually. Individuals who regularly work with peers are increasing their academic standards whilst also developing their social skills. Moreover, Noakes-Malach argues “critically, the question is not whether collaboration is beneficial to learning, but instead how and when collaboration improves outcomes” (2015, p .1)

When learners work collaboratively, the stress of working alone can be reduced as the workload is shared and shifts from autonomy to community. (Leonard, P. E. & Leonard, L. J., 2001). It has been suggested by Kessler et al (1985), collaborative learning reduces classroom anxiety created by new and unfamiliar situations faced by students. This would have a positive impact as children would gain confidence working with their peers and take educational risks that they would possibly pass if they were working individually.  Corresponding views include Pantiz (1999) who states that there are many benefits for Collaborative Learning. These are broken into Social, Psychological and Academic benefits;

Social

·      Social support system for learners

·      Builds diversity understanding among students

·      Develops learning communities

Psychological

·      Student led work increases confidence and self esteem

·      Cooperation between students reduces stress and anciety

Academic

·      Promotes critical thinking skills

·      Involves students in the learning process

·      Motivating in specific parts of the curriculum

All of these benefits will be achieved if teachers provide classrooms that allow collaborative learning. It is crucial that children are given the opportunity to work with their peers to achieve an end goal whether this is in the classroom, play ground or through role play.

Collaborative learning both with and without the computer will transform the practice of teaching (Dillenbourg, 2001). This will have an immediate impact on education as lessons are no longer restricted the classroom. 

Christmas Jumper Day at Cyncoed Campus

Within lectures and seminars over the course of a few weeks, several Cardiff Met Students have created learning resources for a link school we have in Nairobi. We have conducted numerous skype conversations with the teacher Jairus Makambi and have learned about their day to day life.
My group and I filmed our campus, giving the children of cheery school an insight of what it is like to be a university student in the UK. We also provided cultural information in addition to counting to 10 in welsh. This collaboration is equally valuable for both Cardiff Met students and the children of Cheery School as we are working together to learn about different cultures. From this collaboration we as students wanted to raise funds to help with structural work that is currently needed on their school in Nairobi. Fundraising such as cake sales and Xmas jumper day have helped us raise the money we needed in order to help Cheery School.

Cake Sale to raise funds

A tweet Jairus wrote about collaboration

 

Bibliography

Dillenbourg, P. (1999). Collaborative learning:Cognitive and Computational approaches: Advances in Learning and Instruction. Pergamon: London.

Donaldson, G. (2015). Successful futures: independent review of curriculum and assessment arrangements in Wales: February 2015.

Johnson, D.W. & Johnson, R.T. (1990). Using cooperative learning in math, In Davidson, N. (ed.), Cooperative Learning In Mathematics (pp.103-125). Menlo Park, California; USA. Addison-Wesley Publishing.

Kessler, R.C., Price, R. & Wortman, C. (1985). Social Factors in Psychopathology: Stress, Social Support and Coping Processes. Annual Review of Psychology, 36, pp. 351-372.

Laal, M., & Ghodsi, S. M. (2012). Benefits of collaborative learning. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences, 31, 486-490.

Leonard, P. E., & Leonard, L.J. (2001). The collaborative prescription: Remedy or reverie? International Journal of Leadership in Education, 4(4); pp. 383–99.

Nokes-Malach, T., Richey, J. E & Gadgil, S. (2015). When Is It Better to Learn Together? Insights from Research onCollaborative Learning. Educational Psychology Review, 27(4), 645-656.

Panitz, T.(1999). Benefits of Cooperative Learning in Relation to Student Motivation", in Theall, M. (Ed.) Motivationfrom within: Approaches for encouraging faculty and students to excel, New directions for teaching and learning. San Francisco, CA; USA. Josey-Bass publishing.

Vygotsky, L. (1928). Interaction Between Learning and Development. In Gauvain & Cole (Eds.) Readings on the Development of Children. New York: Scientific American Books. pp. 34-40.: New York.

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.