Collaboration
Working with friends makes learning more fun, and research shows increased learning and productivity arise from shared learning experiences. Hamilton (2012) documented student interactions in collaborative work and noted a beneficial sense of shared purpose and heightened individual intrinsic motivation. Students actively participate in their own learning processes, shaping and accepting ownership of their intellectual experience (Kipp-Newbold, 2010).
Self-selected groupings, teacher-chosen teams, and flexible, at-will collaboration have fostered inquiry and discourse in the classroom in a variety of lessons.
One group, charged with reading then re-telling Hesiod's Greek origin myth Theogony, composed and performed an original version in song (pictured). Their decision to approach the textual interpretation this way deepened their own and the class understanding of the ancient story.
Similarly, shared reading of complex texts like Shakespeare's Macbeth allows readers to discuss and clarify as they read, as well as enjoy the text together.
Other successful collaborative opportunities include co-creating with technology, peer review of writing projects, team-based research, and group poetry-writing. Working within community builds bonds and mutual respect, and collaboration will play a key role in 21st-century work. My students expect interaction in the classroom, and take advantage of what they can learn from their peers.
Other successful collaborative opportunities include co-creating with technology, peer review of writing projects, team-based research, and group poetry-writing. Working within community builds bonds and mutual respect, and collaboration will play a key role in 21st-century work. My students expect interaction in the classroom, and take advantage of what they can learn from their peers.