Cooperative learning in the classroom Dr Wendy Jolliffe University of Hull

We Learn. . . 95% Teach 80% 100 Experi- ence 90 70% 80 Discuss 50% 70 See & Hear 60 50 30% See 20% Hear 40 10% Read 20 William Glasser, 1986

What is genuine cooperative learning? Johnson and Johnson (2000, 2005) define them as the following: P Positive interdependence I Individual accountability G Group and individual reflection S Small group skills F Face-to-face interaction Check and coach on key elements with handout

Benefits of CL Three main categories of advantages (Johnson & Johnson, 1999; Slavin, 1995, 1996; Sharan, 1990; Cohen and Lotan 1995; Kyndt et al, 2013): 1. Higher academic achievement 2. Enhanced inter-personal relationships Greater psychological health and social competence Promotes achievement gains for all Status and learning of low-status pupils can be enhanced Pupils in Year 7 learning mathematics: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nqCFTjoMd5o Substantial research (over 550 studies identified by Johnson & Johnson) to show three main benefits: Achievement Higher achievement; more higher level reasoning; greater transfer of what is learned; more time on task. 2. Inter-personal relationships Developing caring and committed relationships; greater sense of belonging and mutual support 3. Psychological health and social competence Higher self-esteem, self-confidence and self-worth, willingness to share problems and increased resilience and ability to cope with adversity and stress

So why is it not more commonly used? We are not born cooperative – we have to learn the skills of cooperating

Teaching the skills ‘The teacher must establish the will and the skill to co-operate.’ (Kagan, 1994) Establish the need for the skill Defining the skill Guided Practice Provide time for group reflection of progress Generalised application of the skill Importance of developing the will and the skill to cooperate One of the keys was the impact of teaching the skills of cooperating summary

Teachers need support too! Cooperative learning in the classroom requires cooperative learning in the staffroom!

Tom’s story Tom is in his second year of high school. He has an intellectual disability, and although he could participate in most activities, he had difficulties organising his routines, such as locating the books he needed and understanding instructions. It was not long before his teachers realised that unless they acted, he would always be late for lessons and unfortunately, the target of peer ridicule and jokes. Tom was sociable and well liked by his peers because of his easy-going manner, so his teachers arranged for him to be included in various cooperative learning groups that they established in their classes. (Gillies, 2007, p. 3)

So what happened to Tom? his teachers arranged for him to be included in various cooperative learning groups that they established in their classes

This enabled Tom to work in small supportive groups in which he could take risks with his learning. His peers encouraged his participation and ensured, like others in his groups, that he undertook specific roles. These included helping organise resources, present his ideas on a topic through different media, and work with his peers to complete the activity they were working on. This enhanced Tom’s self-confidence and increased his status among his peers as they realised he was able to make worthwhile contributions to his group.

Five Key Steps to Implementing Cooperative Learning 1. Establish class cohesion Carry out team building activities Teach conflict resolution skills Teaching the skills of working cooperatively Incorporate cooperative learning into lessons beginning with partner work

Supporting initial teacher training I put them in mixed ability teams….. they worked so well together. And, actually, on a lot of the problems, where it changed from the expected …, it was the lower ability children that could actually rethink it in a new way and were explaining it to the higher ability.   ….Amazing. Sadly… It worked really well and they worked together. And if they got it, if that person there got it, they had to explain it to the other children, and they all had to know it before we moved on, and then they had to have their answer ready. I think they wrote it down or held it up. I can’t remember. But the team had to decide on the answer, so they had to debate it and discuss it and they had to all agree, which meant they all had to understand. … But then we continued… I think we continued after break – we said, “Right. This is going really well. We’ve gone through half of it. We’ll finish the…” We presented it as a quiz – so the second part. But the teacher said, “No. I’d like them back in the groups. They have to do it back in their ability groups.” Well, I had children in tears. I had… We discussed it as a class and we came to the conclusion that we would do it back in the original teams. We put them back in the mixed ability teams, which was… Interviewer: a revelation to the teacher? they need those skills even more to appreciate and to build the tolerance of others… that everybody has a role to play and that’s the best way I think through CL that you can do it. At the end of the day there aren’t many jobs are there were you don’t have to work cooperatively with others so why do we educate everybody to be individual?

In conclusion Research evidence demonstrates the impact of working cooperatively Importance of explicitly teaching the skills to cooperate Implement using a phased approach Co-operative learning in the classroom requires cooperative learning in the staffroom! Wendy Jolliffe w.m.jolliffe@hull.ac.uk Doughnut