Teaching for effective learning - learning together

What we know

Human beings are social animals. By working together and exploring ideas, we are able to increase our knowledge and understanding of the world. We also develop skills by watching other people, practising and getting feedback on our efforts.

Of course many people learn well on their own, and not all learning is best done in the company of others, but even the most solitary of individuals need to share their thoughts and their efforts with other people. Working with others helps us to develop the interpersonal skills which are so important in modern life and work, where co-operation goes hand in hand with competition.

Traditionally, however, the emphasis in schools, especially secondary schools, has been very much on individual achievement and competition. Research shows that, even where pupils have the opportunity to work in pairs or groups, they often do not work collaboratively or co-operatively. They might work in groups but they are not working as groups, helping each other to learn or working towards shared goals as part of a team.

Also, our education system has traditionally placed more emphasis on developing reading and writing skills than on talking and listening. All are important, of course, but talking and listening are fundamental to the development of interpersonal skills and emotional literacy.

In recent years, much more emphasis has been placed on developing the ability of learners to work collaboratively and co-operatively and providing adequate opportunities to practise and develop these skills. Initiatives to promote collaborative learning have been warmly embraced by the teaching profession and there is already some evidence to suggest that they are successful in raising academic achievement. This is often because working with others to explore problems and share ideas creates a synergy, which leads to better understanding and more effective learning. 

Working co-operatively also provides an opportunity for learners to share responsibility for their own and other people’s learning. It also enables them to take on different roles such as team-mate, coach and teacher. 

Collaborative learning is an umbrella term for a variety of educational approaches involving joint effort by learners. Collaborative learning activities vary widely, but most center on the learner’s exploration or application of the curriculum, not simply the teacher’s presentation of it. The teacher’s role is to create an environment where young people are willing and able to work collaboratively, where there are plenty of opportunities and stimulating contexts for learners to work with others, and where they feel safe to share their emerging ideas and understandings.

Usually, learners are working in groups of two or more, searching mutually for understanding, solutions, or meanings, or creating a product. Group challenges often require learners to produce a product for a specified audience and purpose. Collaborative learning programmes also place great emphasis on assessing the contribution of individuals within the group and of the performance of the team.

In collaborative learning situations, pupils are not simply taking in new information or ideas - they are creating something new with the information and ideas.

Implications for learning

Collaborative learning represents a significant shift away from the typical teacher-centered approaches in classrooms. Teachers who use collaborative learning approaches tend to think of themselves less as transmitters of knowledge to pupils, and more as designers of learning experiences which immerse pupils in challenging tasks or questions.

Approaches to collaborative learning are varied and include the following:

• Co-operative Learning - where pupils work together in small groups on a structured activity, for example, to explore a question, to solve a problem, to create a product. Co-operative learning helps students become actively and constructively involved in content, to take ownership of their own learning, and to resolve group conflicts and improve teamwork skills.

• The Learning Team - a concept based on the idea that pupils are responsible for their team-mates' learning as well as their own. These methods emphasise the use of team goals and team success which can be achieved only if all members of the team learn the objectives being taught.

• Peer Teaching or Mentoring - a strategy based on the belief that teaching someone else is one of the best ways to understand something. Many schools now make use of peer mentoring, often spanning different ages and stages.

• Brainstorming  - a technique which helps to develop creative and critical thinking skills. Students work in groups where each member has to think up as many ideas as possible about a problem or issue. Individual contributions are gathered together without any attempt initially to categorise them, evaluate or establish a priority. Once the brainstorm is complete, groups turn to the task of thinking more critically about the ideas that have emerged, so that some basis for choosing what is relevant or important is established. Brainstorming (or 'Thought Showering' as it has become known) helps to develop confidence as well as the important skill of imagining alternatives.

• Buzz Groups - these provide an opportunity for pupils to say what they think and ask questions about what they have been studying. It allows individual difficulties and points for clarification to surface within a small group context. The relaxed nature of the exercise helps to develop self-confidence.

• Think-Pair-Share - initially individual pupils spend time considering a problem or issue on their own before pairing up with a partner to compare notes. The results of their deliberations are then shared with the rest of the class.

• Rainbow groups - each pupil in a group is given a number or a colour. When the group has worked together, all the pupils with the same number or colour form new groups to compare what they have done. In this way pupils’ initial thoughts and suggestions can be challenged and extended by others.

• Twos to Fours - pupils work initially in pairs before joining with another pair to compare notes. Again this provides a valuable opportunity to explain their own points of view and respond to the views of the others.

• Listening Triads - pupils take on the roles of talker, questioner or recorder. The talker explains his or her own point of view on an issue or comments more generally on both sides of an issue. The questioner seeks clarification and asks questions. The recorder takes notes and at the end of the time gives a report of the conversation. Next time the roles are changed.

• Critique Sessions - in groups, pupils offer constructive suggestions and comments about ways to improve each other’s work.

Productive talk and discussion

A recent development in Scotland has been the emergence of the Critical Skills programme. At the heart of the Critical Skills classroom is the experiential learning cycle which engages pupils in collaborative, problem solving challenges that link to the real world and encourages them to reflect on their learning.

Two of the underpinning aims associated with the Critical Skills programme are (a) to promote quality talk and discussion, and (b) to help learners acquire and apply the skills required of a quality audience.

Some of the skills or attributes associated with productive talk and quality discussion are:

• Keeping to the task
• Respecting each other
• Using positive body language
• Getting everyone’s ideas
• Checking that everyone understands
• Listening carefully to each other
• Trusting each other
• Taking turns to speak
• Being friendly to each other
• Stopping to think before disagreeing
• Giving reasons for disagreeing

Quality Audience

Collaborative learning challenges also typically involve some form of public display or performance and so learners are encouraged to develop the skills required of a quality audience. A typical example of a set of quality audience standards is

• Making eye contact
• Nodding and smiling
• Being forgiving
• Being supportive
• Applauding
• Looking for the positive things 

Collaborative learning communities

Another emerging development is the establishment of virtual collaborative learning communities where schools join together to develop an online community with the shared purpose of collaborating on interactive projects. The community cooperates and collaborates to achieve a common goal using newly formed joint intelligence. 

Learners engage in a common purpose and develop meaningful and relevant higher order learning, including the integration of critical thinking skills. The formation of creative partnerships outwith their immediate classroom environment also impacts favourably upon learners. This way of working tunes into the preferred learning styles of the digitally literate Internet generation who, research suggests, prefer to work experientially and interactively in groups on tasks or challenges which are intrinsically motivating. Learning makes use of various technologies that can include:

• Blogs
• Internet
• Discussion forums
• Wikis
• Podcasts
• Distributed email
• PowerPoint
• Digital cameras

Virtual learning communities are not necessarily based in neighbouring geographic areas, but also anywhere in the world. The British Council’s Comenius education programme exemplifies internationally based learning communities.

The role of ICT in learning is reviewed in the ICT and Learning section of this document.