Easier Said Than Done: Collaborative Learning Reading

Easier said than done: Collaborative Learning - Chris Watkins

This article is a look at how teachers can promote collaboration with their students in the programmes and activities they do with their classes.  I thought this would be a good place to start my thinking as our syndicates big idea for the term which is 'collaboration'

Here are some important points I found from reading the article:

• Collaboration will generate important social learning and life skills for young people
• Research evidence suggests that collaboration learning is associated with higher performance right from the earliest years in schooling
• Collaboration aims to promote dialogue
• The crucial element is designing tasks to allow for collaboration
• Tasks must not be 'decomposable' - not able to be complete by one person in the group
• The task must require the contribution of all members of the group
• Tasks should create an interdependence which is reciprocal: each student is dependent of the contributions of all others
• The task can not be a 'right answer' task.  Instead it must require higher-order thinking and negotiation of meaning.

I believe this links to Practicing Teacher Criteria in the following ways:

Criteria 8. demonstrate in practice their knowledge and understanding of how ākonga learn
because I will be enabling ākonga to make connections between their prior experiences and learning and their current learning activities.  I will also be providing opportunities and support for ākonga to engage with, practice and apply new learning to different contexts.

and

Criteria 12. demonstrate commitment to critical inquiry and problem-solving in their professional practice because  I have systematically and critically engaged with evidence and professional literature to reflect on and refine my practice.