![]() Vol. XII No. 2 January 2000
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![]() Nurturing a Collaborative Classroom Environment The SLEC recently hosted an inaugural colloquium cosponsored by three of Canada's most influential organizations in second language: Canadian Association for Second Language Teachers, Canadian Association of Immersion Teachers, and the Society for Educational Visits and Exchanges in Canada. Working together as a team toward one common goal is a challenging and rewarding experience. When a group successfully accomplishes a complex task, it creates an atmosphere of collegiality and confidence. In the classroom, teachers are constantly striving to build both the individual and collective confidence of their groups of students. As is the case in the world outside the classroom, learning to collaborate in an effective way can be a process loaded with obstacles. But helping students to overcome these hurdles and eventually work together as a supportive team can create a wonderful atmosphere for teaching and learning. It is important not to underestimate the value of building effective interpersonal skills. Spencer Kagan (1992) has noted that lack of these skills is one of the leading causes of difficulties coping in a job situation. Much has been published recently on the cooperative approach to learning whose central goal is to build and nurture good teamwork skills while learning content. Bellanca & Forgarty (1991) describe cooperative learning as an instructional strategy aimed at "creating a … classroom in which student achievement, self-esteem, responsibility, high-level thinking and favorable attitudes toward school increase dramatically" (p. 2) From this definition, it is evident that the cooperative approach to small group tasks contributes greatly to the development of larger classroom "community", however there are other more global activities that can also help to build this sort of environment. In the book entitled "Classroom Connections," an entire chapter is devoted to a topic they call classbuilding activities. Such activities are "… inclusive; that is, they require active interaction, equal recognition, and participation from all group members" (Abrami et al, 1995, p. 49). Some specific classroom building activities will be described in this month's newsletter. Often when we use cooperative learning strategies, we end up with four or five separate groups doing the same task under the umbrella of one experiential goal. At the end of the unit, a teacher often ends up with five projects, albeit in a variety of formats, on the same topic (e.g., five tourist brochures, five poster presentations, five audio-recordings of a weather report). Although there is nothing wrong with this approach, it may prove beneficial from a team building perspective, to have the cooperative groups working on different components of one common project. As an example, a few years ago one of our graduate students, Michelle Porter, did a presentation on a "voyage à Paris" project she had done in her classroom. All the cooperative groups were responsible for a different part of the project- travel agency, airport and airplane ride, hotel in Paris, street scene, bistro in Paris. All throughout the project, students were reminded of their common objective and of how all of the components fit together. In the end, all components were brought together to create their Paris experience. Other projects such as putting together a news program (sports, local news, national news, weather, community interest, and commercials) or a newspaper (classifieds, news, sports, horoscopes, comics, etc.) or organizing a thematic fair can also be ways to get a large group working toward a common objective. Taking on classroom projects that may be peripheral to the curriculum is one other way of building your learning community. Abrami et al (1995) mention that teachers are sometimes concerned that these activities will take too much time away from program objectives but that those who have made an effort to implement them feel that it is time well spent. Ideas such as planning a class dinner, collecting recyclables in order to donate money to a charitable cause, decorating the classroom, taking on a service oriented task such as cleaning the school yard, planting an indoor garden, designing a class T-shirt, creating a class website, performing a class play, and displaying recent achievements on a class bulletin board are all good ways of recognizing and building a sense of community and collaboration. We are reminded that all members of the classroom community should be able to "contribute meaningfully and successfully to the completion of the activity" (Abrami et al, 1995, p. 49) and that students should be involved in the choosing the type of community building activity for the class. If nurturing collaboration has not been a priority in your classroom in the past, why not start the new calendar year off on a cooperative foot. Collaborative activities may be another useful tool in creating a more effective learning environment for your students.
References: Bellanca, J & Fogarty, R. (1991). Blueprints for Thinking in a Cooperative
Classroom. Arlington, IL: Skylight training and publishing inc.
Kagan, S. (1992). Cooperative Learning. San Juan Capistrano, CA: Kagan
Cooperative Learning.
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