Reflection 5: What is cooperative/ collaborative learning?

There are all different types of students, some shy some loud and some are just plain friendly; no matter the type of person, it is always good to place students in groups so that they can socially communicate with others. Group work is especially good for shy children because it helps them interact with others and it helps them make friends. Working in groups is an essential part in the learning process because the child learns to be open minded and helps get their ideas and tie them in with what the group thinks, this is called collaborative learning. Collaborative learning can be in groups with students in the same class, in other schools, maybe even in other countries and over the internet. When it comes to cooperative learning children work together in smaller groups on a specific activity. Each student is responsible for their work and although they are working in groups they have to “cooperate” with the other group members as a whole. Cooperative groups work together in the same room and all students have to stay on top of each other to make sure the others are working as they should. When students are in smaller skills they can share their strengths and weaknesses with others and can get feedback from their other team members. In cooperative groups children also fight or find conflicts with other students. These conflicts can include one of the team members not working as they should or having someone forget something that the whole group needed. Usually conflicts can be taken care of but sometimes a teacher’s intervention is necessary. In order for cooperative learning to occur the students need to work together but be clear and have to know exactly what they need to do. Another thing kids need in order to work in a cooperative environment is that the groups must be smaller than in collaborative environments so that all the children can work and donate time and effort to the project; you also want the student to have a say of their opinions and if the group is too big then the student may feel threatened to give their thoughts and ideas in front of too many people. Lastly, it is important for the student to feel safe in the environment but challenged as well. As a teacher you should always walk around the room and keep an eye out for any help the groups might need because when working in groups it is also possible to find some kids talking about other things rather than the activity that was given.