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A More Cooperative Classroom

by Jody Conod

 

Introduction

How can I change the classroom from one with teacher-centred learning to a classroom with more group and cooperative learning experiences? This was a question that concerned me during my grade seven and eight practicum placement. They were accustomed to working independently, copying notes off the board and listening to teacher-led briefs and discussions; they were rarely involved in interactive or cooperative learning experiences. The class was a good group that generally listened well and were cooperative with the teacher. The problem was that they were only participating in the class as passive learners. What I wanted to see were the students, and not only the teacher, contributing to the groupsí learning experiences. I thought that small cooperative groups would be the answer to this problem. Besides, by simply getting the students more involved it would foster academic, personal and social development. Cooperative small group learning enhances stronger feelings of self-worth, students assume greater responsibility for their actions and they develop cooperative skills. They learn values such as respect and caring for others, helpfulness and empathy. With this in mind I set about making some changes.

The Process -- My First Attempt

I presented my concern to my Associate Teacher, explaining that I felt the students could benefit from more group work and cooperative learning experiences. She said she had tried that approach with the class without a great deal of success and, as a result, had turned the focus back to teacher-centred learning. Although the process had failed for her she agreed to help me try it in the classroom.

We decided to give the students a group project on Canadian Geography. I knew that I would need to give the class clear direction on the project objectives and on group organization. I prepared a handout stating the group members (4-5 students per group, picked be me), the topics to be covered, timelines, lists of possible resources and tips on how to organize time and group activities. I presented all of this information to the class, stressing the importance of the involvement of all members of the group and the ability to quickly organize the tasks and distribute them among group members. The groups were then given three periods to research, make a poster and prepare for their presentation to the class.

After the first period I realized that they really did not know how to work in groups very well. After one period many of the groups still had not decided who would be responsible for which portions of the assignment (even though there were an equal number of tasks to students in each group) and they had not chosen which resources they would use. For the most part, the groups had trouble focusing on the topic (hockey and CDs seemed to be far more meaningful discussion topics) and most of the groups had only one or two students who were actively participating. As a result, I spent the beginning of the next class with the whole group brainstorming on what good group members say and do, how to distribute work fairly and how to meet timelines. After this, the groups were better able to focus on what had to be done.

The Results

Well, I must admit that the results of this exercise were not entirely favourable. The transition from individual to group work was a difficult endeavor for this class. Having only two weeks to work on this certainly did not help. Ideally, I would have spent more time introducing the idea and having the students complete smaller projects in smaller groups. The class had difficulty with team work and organization and most of the projects were completed by only one or two members of each group. They had worked in groups, which was my intention, but they certainly had not worked in cooperative groups.

The Process -- My Second Attempt

After this first not-so-great attempt I was even more determined to make things work. Thankfully, I was moving into a grade six classroom and was able to continue working with cooperative groups. This time I did a bit of research to see where I had gone wrong and what I could do to better implement my plan. One of the most useful things that I learned were the underlying principles for cooperative learning.

The Principles of Cooperative Learning²

1. The Principle of Distributed Leadership - Cooperative learning is based on the belief that all students should share leadership tasks; active participation implies that all members are to be involved. 

2. The Principle of Heterogeneous Grouping - The most effective groups are those which include students with different social backgrounds, skill levels, physical capabilities and genders (just like groups in the "real world"). 

3. The Principle of Positive Interdependence - Students need to recognize and value their dependence upon one another (one group product, group rewards and group accountability). 

4. The Principle of Social Skills Acquisition - The ability to work effectively in a group is determined by the acquisition of specific social skills. These social skills can be taught and can be learned. 

5. The Principle of Group Autonomy - Student groups will most likely reach a resolution to a problem if they are not "rescued" by the teacher. It is more helpful for a teacher to suggest and prompt rather than direct student activity.

With this, and many other ideas in mind, I began to implement cooperative group learning in my grade six classroom.

The first thing that I did with the grade six class was introduce the concept of teamwork and cooperation. The class was asked to brainstorm a list of what a cooperative person/teamplayer says and does.³ They came up with things like active listening, encouragement, smiling, accepting othersí ideas, asking questions, helping others and working in close proximity. The next thing that we did was play a cooperative game, keeping in mind all the qualities of a cooperative person. This worked fairly well and all the students made a conscious effort to work as a team. Over the course of the next few days we reviewed these traits and then practiced applying them in a cooperative setting. At the onset we played cooperative games to practice these skills. I used team challenges, relays and obstacle courses as a means of achieving this.

Over the following few weeks we began to apply cooperative learning in various other parts of the curriculum. In so doing I always ensured that I had homogenous groups. This took a bit of trial and error in order to achieve well-balanced groups but I eventually discovered which individuals worked the best in which groups. I also ensured that all of the groups had a space to work that allowed all members to be at the same physical level (either all seated in chairs, all on the floor or all standing) and that allowed the group the necessary room to work. As well, every student had a task and was accountable for that task. This made things clear for the students and it allowed them to more easily integrate into different groups. In Language we started a "Reading Buddy" program that we used once a week and I introduced group improvisational drama in our novel study. I also used cooperative groups in Mathematics; the class worked in small groups for a measurement activity and an area and perimeter activity.

During the first few "academic" cooperative activities I used fairly small groups, usually three to four students, but as the students became more competent working with others I increased the group sizes to five, six, and sometimes up to half the class. By the end of my placement I was able to vary the group members and the size of the group to fit the activity.

The Results

The results from this trial were much more positive than those of my first trial. Although there were still a few hang-ups things flowed fairly smoothly. Initially, I had some problems with students who "couldnít work with so-and-so" for a never-ending number of reasons. However, when group work became a part of their routine they realized that they would only ever be working with the "said" individual for a short period of time. They also realized that if everyone worked together and kept on task the personal problem could usually be put aside.

As the students became more involved with group work the benefits of their cooperation started to show. They developed a more positive attitude towards others, they more freely expressed their ideas and opinions and they could draw conclusions from both personal statements and the statements of others. They also determined different ways of doing the same task and they discovered how one thing could mean different things to different people. For example, perimeter for one child meant "measuring the distance around an object" but for another it was "What Dad used to figure out how much fencing he needed to make a fence for the dog". The group work was not only a learning experience for the students but it was a fun learning experience. I often heard and read positive comments such as "This is fun", "This doesnít even seem like work-you donít make us sit at our desks" and "I learned to like Math".

Probably the most rewarding thing that I saw was how the students began to encourage others in their group to participate or to work harder to achieve their objective. This encouragement was clearly evident on our rock-climbing trip. The class was divided into groups of three students. Everyone was able to choose their climb so that they could work at their own pace. At first the students were picking the "sure" climbs, the ones that they could master without a great deal of effort. After a little while group members began encouraging the others to try harder and to climb at the next level of difficulty. When someone was stuck and did not know which hold to grab next you could hear the calls of

encouragement and support from other members of the team. This team support allowed almost all of the students to achieve their personal best. It was amazing to see how the students could all pull together. This made it a very rewarding day for all of us.

Conclusion

It is unfortunate that I did not have more time to spend in this classroom as I certainly would have enjoyed trying more and different types of cooperative group work. Nevertheless, this was a successful project. I learned a great deal and I feel that the students benefited from the experience. Cooperative group work is an effective teaching tool that I will certainly continue to use.