Collaborative Learning and Arrangement of Furniture
Although some teachers may be sceptical about collaborative learning and desk groupings, there is a lot of evidence that suggests that this instructional strategy encourages students to work together and that this in turn enhances motivation for learning. However, it is important to assess in which teaching and learning situations collaborative learning will be beneficial and to always consider the needs of the students.
Whilst planning learning experiences, it is worthwhile to consider if it would be more beneficial for students to engage in a task or activity in small or large groups, as a class or individually. Positive interactions such as group, leadership and peer tutoring activities could be a useful tool in teaching vital social skills to students who struggle to socialise and communicate within and outside the classroom. These activities also provide opportunities for enhancing the learning of gifted or more advanced students (Temple & Lynnes 2008). This, in turn, could be beneficial in developing self-esteem, a positive sense of self value and notions of cooperation and belonging for each individual within the class.
Communication and providing feedback are essential in the classroom. If a teacher is incapable of communicating effectively with their students, rich quality learning will not occur as children can learn to develop self-esteem, effective communication skills, utilise higher-order thought processes and form meaningful relationships through connections established during communication and interaction with their teacher and their peers (Killen 2009). Encouraging collaboration in whole-group or small group learning experiences is also beneficial in that it develops the students’ talking and listening skills and children can often learn a great deal from one another. Social interaction amongst students can promote higher-order thinking skills and develop students’ metacognitive capacity. If students are encouraged and guided to think critically together, their spoken reasoning will ideally make their cognitive tools available to one another. Vygotsky described interactions with adults and peers as being linked to psychological advancement and the development of higher mental functions such as abstract thinking and problem solving (Vialle, Lysaght & Verenikina 2008).
In addition to this, it is essential to carefully consider the arrangement of physical objects and use of space in a classroom as the spatial arrangement reflects individual teaching style and will impact on the teaching and learning process. The furniture needs to be organised to provide a flexible learning space and enable collaboration and effective communication in the classroom. The positioning of furniture should also allow adequate space for mobility, safe movement throughout daily routines and the completion of teaching and learning activities. Table groupings should be structured to allow for the most beneficial communication possible to occur (Marsh 2010). This may depend on particular learning contexts. Tables can be arranged so that group work or learning station activities can take place and so as to promote collaboration between students of mixed abilities or to facilitate autonomous individual learning.
Arrangement of desks should also take into consideration the direction which students are facing and the positioning of desks and chairs in regards to the location of windows, resources, the air conditioning unit, the interactive whiteboard and the portable whiteboard, if the classroom has these resources. Desks should be positioned a sufficient distance away from windows (where possible) to minimise glare and outside distractions, yet close enough to the interactive whiteboard that the children can view it. Desk clusters could be purposely arranged on particular angles to permit each student a clear line of sight to the board without obstruction from other students or objects in the classroom (Marsh 2010).
- Killen, R 2009, Effective Teaching Strategies: Lessons from research and practice (5th ed.), Cengage, South Melbourne, Victoria.
- Marsh, C 2010, Becoming a Teacher: Knowledge, Skills and Issues (5th ed.), Pearson Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW.
- Temple, VA & Lynnes, MD 2008, ‘Peer Tutoring for Inclusion’, ACHPER Healthy Lifestyles Journal, vol.55, no.2, pp11-21.
- Vialle, W, Lysaght, P & Verenikina, I 2008, Handbook on Child Development (2nd Ed.), Cengage Learning, South Melbourne, Victoria.
Although some teachers may be sceptical about collaborative learning and desk groupings, there is a lot of evidence that suggests that this instructional strategy encourages students to work together and that this in turn enhances motivation for learning. However, it is important to assess in which teaching and learning situations collaborative learning will be beneficial and to always consider the needs of the students.
Whilst planning learning experiences, it is worthwhile to consider if it would be more beneficial for students to engage in a task or activity in small or large groups, as a class or individually. Positive interactions such as group, leadership and peer tutoring activities could be a useful tool in teaching vital social skills to students who struggle to socialise and communicate within and outside the classroom. These activities also provide opportunities for enhancing the learning of gifted or more advanced students (Temple & Lynnes 2008). This, in turn, could be beneficial in developing self-esteem, a positive sense of self value and notions of cooperation and belonging for each individual within the class.
Communication and providing feedback are essential in the classroom. If a teacher is incapable of communicating effectively with their students, rich quality learning will not occur as children can learn to develop self-esteem, effective communication skills, utilise higher-order thought processes and form meaningful relationships through connections established during communication and interaction with their teacher and their peers (Killen 2009). Encouraging collaboration in whole-group or small group learning experiences is also beneficial in that it develops the students’ talking and listening skills and children can often learn a great deal from one another. Social interaction amongst students can promote higher-order thinking skills and develop students’ metacognitive capacity. If students are encouraged and guided to think critically together, their spoken reasoning will ideally make their cognitive tools available to one another. Vygotsky described interactions with adults and peers as being linked to psychological advancement and the development of higher mental functions such as abstract thinking and problem solving (Vialle, Lysaght & Verenikina 2008).
In addition to this, it is essential to carefully consider the arrangement of physical objects and use of space in a classroom as the spatial arrangement reflects individual teaching style and will impact on the teaching and learning process. The furniture needs to be organised to provide a flexible learning space and enable collaboration and effective communication in the classroom. The positioning of furniture should also allow adequate space for mobility, safe movement throughout daily routines and the completion of teaching and learning activities. Table groupings should be structured to allow for the most beneficial communication possible to occur (Marsh 2010). This may depend on particular learning contexts. Tables can be arranged so that group work or learning station activities can take place and so as to promote collaboration between students of mixed abilities or to facilitate autonomous individual learning.
Arrangement of desks should also take into consideration the direction which students are facing and the positioning of desks and chairs in regards to the location of windows, resources, the air conditioning unit, the interactive whiteboard and the portable whiteboard, if the classroom has these resources. Desks should be positioned a sufficient distance away from windows (where possible) to minimise glare and outside distractions, yet close enough to the interactive whiteboard that the children can view it. Desk clusters could be purposely arranged on particular angles to permit each student a clear line of sight to the board without obstruction from other students or objects in the classroom (Marsh 2010).
- Killen, R 2009, Effective Teaching Strategies: Lessons from research and practice (5th ed.), Cengage, South Melbourne, Victoria.
- Marsh, C 2010, Becoming a Teacher: Knowledge, Skills and Issues (5th ed.), Pearson Australia, Frenchs Forest, NSW.
- Temple, VA & Lynnes, MD 2008, ‘Peer Tutoring for Inclusion’, ACHPER Healthy Lifestyles Journal, vol.55, no.2, pp11-21.
- Vialle, W, Lysaght, P & Verenikina, I 2008, Handbook on Child Development (2nd Ed.), Cengage Learning, South Melbourne, Victoria.
Facilitating Group Work
If teachers accept that collaborative communicative skills are important life skills, they should set out to foster their development in the classroom. In order to effectively complete group tasks, students require both cognitive skills involved in completing the activity and social skills required to be a productive member of a team (Biott & Clough 2007). Teachers can facilitate these understandings by making the goals of the lesson explicit, providing clear instructions and scaffolding the students in their groups as they complete the activity. Teachers can also demonstrate and encourage types of discussion which encourage collaborative learning in a variety of learning contexts. Students should often be given opportunities to engage in social interaction and student-centered extended dialogue involving explanations, elaborations, joint reasoning or other forms of high level discussion (Baines, Rubie-Davies & Blatchford 2009). ‘Students may be reluctant to participate in group work for fear of losing credibility with their peers and their teacher if, for instance, they say something incorrect or controversial’ (Wolters 2003, cited in Baines, Rubie-Davies & Blatchford 2009, p96). It is essential for teachers to foster a safe learning environment in which students feel confident enough to make suggestions, contributions and express their point of view. This, in turn, will promote acceptance of the contributions of others, allowing productive team work to occur. Teachers can incorporate trust building exercises into student learning experiences and endorse respectful conduct within the learning environment, creating an increasingly collaborative classroom culture.
Once a teacher has decided to implement group work, they must decide on a method for dividing students into groups to complete activities. The method selected and utilised will depend on the specific outcomes of the lesson and the requirements and objectives of the activity. Students could be grouped according to ability level, friendship, random assignment, gender or various other ways. Each grouping strategy has its strengths and weaknesses and some may be more appropriate than others depending on contextual factors. Educational literature is conflicted in terms of which strategy works best and, consequently, it is important to experiment with the way groups are formed to determine what works best for the learners (Killen 2009).
- Baines, E, Rubie-Davies, C, & Blatchford, P 2009, ‘Improving pupil group work interaction and dialogue in primary classrooms: results from a year‐long intervention study’, Cambridge Journal of Education, vol.39, no.1, pp95-117.
- Biott, C & Clough, M 2007, ‘Co-operative group work in primary classrooms’, Education 3-13: International Journal of Primary, Elementary and Early Years Education, vol.11, no.2, pp33-36.
- Killen, R 2009, Effective Teaching Strategies: Lessons from research and practice (5th ed.), Cengage, South Melbourne, Victoria.
Incorporating Individual Roles within Groups
Merely placing students in groups and expecting them to work cooperatively together to solve a problem or complete a task may not necessarily produce the desired results. It is important that each student works as a member of team and is also accountable to the group for individual effort. Through incorporating individual roles into group project work, teachers may be more likely to achieve accountability and commitment from all individual students working in groups (Johnson & Johnson 2003, cited in Dempsey & Arthur-Kelly 2007). There are numerous ways to assign roles within groups and all students should be given opportunities to play various roles within different groups. Group roles could include the scribe who notes suggestions, the presenter who reports on progress to the class, researchers who gather relevant information, and so on. Assigning roles encourages students who may be reluctant to participate in group situations to make significant contributions and discourages individual students from trying to take control over their group. It is important to thoroughly explain what each role entails and exactly what students are required to do.
- Dempsey, I & Arthur-Kelly, M 2007, Maximising Learning Outcomes in Diverse Classrooms, Thomson, South Melbourne, Victoria.
Jigsaw Method
Students are divided into groups with equal amounts of students. Within these groups, the individual students are numbered according to the amount of students in the group, for example if there are 4 students in the group they will be numbered 1-4. The students then form new groups according to their assigned numbers and research, discuss and complete a particular specialist section or focal point of a task collaboratively. These students are now “experts” in their specialist topic and they are required to return back to their original groupings and teach the other members of the group what they learnt. The students gain a comprehensive understanding of the topic, are encouraged to interact with and learn from one another in a productive manner and must make individual contributions within groups to complete the task (Killen 2009).
- Killen, R 2009, Effective Teaching Strategies: Lessons from research and practice (5th ed.), Cengage, South Melbourne, Victoria.
Metacognition and the Six Thinking Hats
Part of cognitive development is learning how to be aware of one’s thinking and to direct it consciously and strategically. Metacognitive strategies help students to become more efficient learners as they are useful for evaluating and applying different approaches to problem solving. Learning environments that lay the foundation for a reflective collaborative classroom support metacognition (Magno 2010). A learning theory that promotes reflection on thinking processes is Edward De Bono’s six thinking hats. Each hat symbolises a particular mode of thinking or method for approaching a task. The hats are:
The six hats method can be implemented in a collaborative learning environment by assigning a different hat to individual students within groups to encourage each member to take an active role. Alternatively, the whole class could be working on the same task and smaller groups within the class could each be assigned a different hat. The method also allows students to think more richly and more comprehensively. If students are asked to think about a problem or subject and required to arrive at an answer using only one type of thinking it may be difficult for them to negotiate a solution. It is beneficial to explore problems using the framework of the hats as students will develop essential decision making and problem solving skills applicable in a range of classroom and life experiences (Zhang 2010).
- Magno, C 2010, ‘The role of metacognitive skills in developing critical thinking’, Metacognition Learning, vol.5, no.1, pp137-156.
- Zhang, L 2010, ‘Do thinking styles contribute to metacognition beyond self-rated abilities?’, Educational Psychology, vol.30, no.4, pp481-494.
- Magno, C 2010, ‘The role of metacognitive skills in developing critical thinking’, Metacognition Learning, vol.5, no.1, pp137-156.
- Zhang, L 2010, ‘Do thinking styles contribute to metacognition beyond self-rated abilities?’, Educational Psychology, vol.30, no.4, pp481-494.