Collaboration and Cooperation: The disabled child in the general education program
Background: Cooperative learning has a long history in American schools (e.g., the Common School Movement led by Horace Mann in the 1800s and John Dewey (1930s) advocated for cooperative learning). But competitive school structures have predominated. Like the factory, the schools were structures to create a standard product. All students experienced and were expected to master the same curriculum, at the same rate, through the same instructional methodologies (e.g., large group). There was little tolerance of or appreciation for the natural difference among children in culture, learning style, interests, and values.
However, over the last two decades research has shown cooperative learning to be effective in increasing academic achievement and social acceptance of students with disabilities. For example, Johnson & Johnson (1989), in their book "Cooperation and Competition: Theory and Research," conclude that interaction within a cooperative context is a major determinant of whether cross-ethnic contact produces positive attitudes and relationships. For example, it holds that cooperative learning is beneficial for students of Native American and Native Alaskan heritage.
Cooperative learning is highly consistent with the culture and values of many Native American Groups. Traditionally, these groups avoid individual competition, emphasize cooperation, and shun being "singled out" in front of an audience. Sharing is a way of life for the Athabascan Indians of Alaska.
Process: Cooperative learning requires modification in the way that teachers organize and manage their classrooms. Cooperative learning is a complex process and many factors can determine its success or failure. Cooperative learning can lead to positive outcomes if essential conditions, which promote cooperative learning, are present.
Cooperative learning should be used in conjunction with effective instructional strategies that take into account the individual needs and learning styles of each student. In cooperative learning groups, individuals work together to reach common goals.
During cooperative learning activities, the accomplishment of the group goal should depend on all members working together and coordinating their activities.
Cooperation doesn't happen automatically. It takes time and hard work. It takes two to three years before one feels comfortable and to be an expert in employing cooperative learning.
A. Positive interdependence (we sink or swim together)
Accomplishment of the group goal should depend on all members working together and coordinating their actions. Students should be concerned about the performance of all the group members. Success means that each member of the group has attained both the group learning goal and his or her individual learning goals. Individual assignments and group assignments are given.
Positive interdependence is the essence of cooperative learning. It is achieved when students think in terms of "we instead of me."
Strategies for achieving "sink or swim together" or Positive interdependence:
1.Goal interdependence (a mutual goal or goals for the whole team) First, establish a common goal. Write it down. Revisit it.
2.Task interdependence (division of labor -- leadership is spread around. Leadership is defined as getting the job done and building good relationships);
3.Resource interdependence (division and/or sharing of materials, resources, and information among individual group members);
4.Role interdependence (assigning various roles to students such as time keeper, recorder, observer, etc); and,
5.Reward interdependence (giving a group reward for achieving the goal or goals. There are no escape goats. Give administrative incentives).
B. Individual accountability
All students should be held individually responsible for learning the material and contributing to the group. Insist on individual accountability by using individual evaluations to determine whether each student has mastered the material. Teachers can monitor and can randomly select a student from each group to respond to questions or explain material to class. Students can also be taught to monitor themselves.
C. Cooperative skills and social skills -- People skills
Students should be required to practice social and cooperative skills within their groups. The particular skills taught will vary according to age level of the students and the perceived need for specific social/cooperative skills. Typical social skills needed by students at the secondary level are active listening, paraphrasing what others are saying, giving compliments, encouraging others to contribute ideas, and resolving controversy without criticizing group members personally. Some of the skills taught in elementary grades include staying with the group, sharing materials, taking turns, encouraging one another, and speaking in quiet voices.
Asking for help
Expressing support
Describing feelings
Relieving tension - humor
Building trust
Using peoples names
Look at speaker – eye contact
No put-downs
Stage 1. Forming Trust:
Come to meetings on time
Have an agenda
Use people's names
Look at the speaker
No put downs
Stage 2. Functioning as a Leader
(communication skills):
Direct the group's work
Ask for help
Paraphrasing
Expressing support
Describing feelings
Relieving tension
Stage 3. Formulating Creativity:
Summarizing
Seeking elaboration
Meta-cognition "thinking bout thinking"
Jargon busting
Seeking consensus
Praising contributions
Stage 4. Fermenting --
Constructive Controversy:
Criticize ideas, not people
Differentiate, then integrate
Ask for rationales. Ask "why?"
Take a perspective and
respect other perspectives
Integrate ideas
Probing for deeper understanding
Understanding -- Understanding is the application of knowledge, used appropriately in new or certain situations. Mobilize knowledge in new situations to the extent that one can mobilize knowledge in new situations. To the extent that this occurs, that is that one can mobilize knowledge in new situations, is the extent of understanding. Understanding is tough and takes time. Exploration takes time.
"One does not have to understand to get by in school. All one needs is to know the answers! If you think that you know what is going on, you don’t have a clue of what is going on." (Jane Quinn, Columnist)
D. Face-to-face interaction
Students should interact directly with one another while they are working. They may communicate verbally and/or nonverbally (two-thirds of communication is nonverbal). Interaction should take place among students, rather than between students and materials. Have students sit in a circle. Comfort is important. The optimum group size is 5 to 6. Meetings should not last longer than 45 minutes. Consider time of day. Some people are "morning people," others are "evening people."
E. Student reflection and goal setting
Students should evaluate how well their group has functioned and whether their group goals were reached after the close of their cooperative learning activities.
Teachers should observe the groups and share their observations with the students. A student can also serve as an observer. The group can also fill out simple evaluation forms that help in analyzing group strengths and weaknesses.
The task of reflection is to answer the questions, "how well are we getting tasks done?" and "how well are we building good relationships?"
F. Heterogeneous groups
Each group should contain a mixture of students with respect to cognitive ability levels; social and behavioral skill levels; gender; cultural, racial, and language characteristics; and, socioeconomic status. The purpose is to provide a sense of affiliation and bonding with other class members. However, please note that there are times when it is appropriate for students to work in homogeneous groups based on mutual interest.
The groups should:
1.Have "zero reject"
2.Have instructional options
3.Be taught social skills
4.Have many decision makers
5.Have no more than five or six members
G. Equal opportunity for success
All students should have a chance to contribute to the success of the group and to improve themselves. Teachers should individualize the criteria for success and adapt expectations or task requirements according to the student's ability and needs. Each student is accountable for learning the specified content. Some students will need a reduced number of requirements; some will work toward improving their previous performance; and others may work toward unique, individualized criteria. Allow for different completion rates. Allow for different workloads. Use computers & other technology.
ADVANTAGES OF COOPERATIVE LEARNING
Academic achievement - When comparing cooperative learning with individualistic learning (i.e., learning alone) and competitive learning, it was found that positive achievement outcomes are most likely to occur when the conditions of positive interdependence and individual accountability are ensured. Both conditions are critical elements in cooperative learning. Slaven’s research efforts concluded that group rewards, individual accountability, and equal opportunity scoring (i.e., the opportunity to improve on past performance) are crucial elements to fostering positive academic achievement outcomes.
Improved self-esteem - Self-esteem is defined as a judgment about one's own worth. It is based on how well liked and competent a person feels. Improved self-esteem results from achieving challenging goals, from gaining the respect of others, and from favorable comparisons with others. Research indicates that working individually is generally better for one's self-esteem than working competitively. Cooperative learning can help students to value themselves and to perceive themselves positively.
Active learning - Students working in cooperative groups are encouraged to discuss and apply what they are learning. In cooperative learning activities, the students themselves often become teachers within the group. "Qui docet discit" (Seneca) means, "whoever teaches learns twice." Students participating in cooperative learning groups also hear more explanations and are exposed to a greater variety of strategies for solving problems.
In cooperative learning situations, students talk about problems, a form of cognitive rehearsal and elaboration that assists in understanding and retaining material. Sometimes peer explanations are more helpful and understandable by students than are adult explanations. Student "translations or interpretations" of materials may be quite novel and sometimes very effective.
Social skill development - Cooperative learning activities are an excellent context in which to develop leadership skills, conflict resolution skills, and interpersonal communication skills. It is through interpersonal interaction that individuals observe, perform, and receive feedback on social behaviors, which makes cooperative learning activities especially beneficial for students with learning and behavior problems. One of the best times for students to learn and practice social skills is in cooperative group situations.
Working together involves a coordination of efforts that entails getting to know and trust one another, communicating accurately, accepting and supporting one another, and resolving conflicts constructively.
Research indicates that students interact more frequently by "orienting" and making "positive comments" to one another. There is improvement in on-task time and a drop in disruptive behavior. Cooperative groups provide the opportunity for students to learn and practice social skills.
Peer acceptance and friendship - Cooperative-learning experiences foster friendships among classmates. Students with disabilities are also more accepted by other students in cooperative learning situations than in competitive or individualistic situations even when these students are not effective contributors to the success of the group.
The "bumbler hypothesis" (Deutsch, 1949) - This is the theory that individuals who facilitate the achievement of one's goals are liked and accepted, and that individuals who frustrate one's goal attainment are disliked and rejected. Note that, fortunately, this is not likely to happen in a true cooperative team. Studies show that low-achieving individuals are actually liked more in cooperative situations than in competitive situations. Why? Because:
Students tend to value high effort despite low ability.
Students in cooperative groups have expectations that all members will help to facilitate the group's attainment of the goal. These expectations are generalized to low performing group members.
Students like to assist low-performing peers.
Low-performing students are recognized for their areas of strengths, which are revealed over the course of ongoing and appropriately structured interactions.
Major Approaches To Cooperative Learning
The conceptual approach
The Johnsons' method of cooperative learning has been referred to as the conceptual approach, because it is based on the assumption that teachers can learn the key principles of structuring effective cooperative learning activities and then tailoring them to suit the needs of their own students. The teacher becomes the "academic expert" and classroom manager. Emphasis is on cooperative-skill development. This approach also stresses positive interdependence and individual accountability.
The curricular approach
Slavin developed a curriculum-specific approach to support instruction in heterogeneous classrooms. There are two models: 1. Team accelerated instruction (TAI) and 2. Cooperative integrated reading and composition (CIRC). TAI combines individualized instruction with teamwork in mathematics. CIRC is a program for teaching reading and writing in the upper elementary grades. Key components of this approach are team rewards, team practice, team quizzes, equal opportunities for success, and individual accountability. Other example of specific curricular approaches that can be adapted to most subject
areas and grade levels are: (a) Student teams - achievement divisions (STAD), and (b) team - games – tournament (TGT). In STAD, the students work together in heterogeneous teams of four to master the assigned material and then take individual quizzes. TGT is similar to STAD. However, TGT replaces the quizzes with weekly tournaments that involve individual competition between members of opposing teams. Teams are heterogeneous and students compete against peers with similar records of performance.
The structural approach
Spencer Kagan (1990) developed the structural approach. A "structure" is a content-independent way of organizing social interaction in the classroom. Kagan bases his method of cooperative learning on a research and theory tradition purporting that our behaviors are determined, to a large extent, by the particular situations in which we are placed. A structure consists of a series of specific steps and prescribed behaviors that can be used with a variety of academic content. Different structures are used to achieve different outcomes such as: (a) promoting mastery of material, (b) fostering concept development, (c) team building, (d) class building, and (e) communication building.
An example of a typical structure is "Numbered Heads Together." This approach guarantees positive interdependence because students "put their heads together" to agree on the correct answer and to ensure that all team members know that answer.
1.Students form teams and count off so each student has a number.
2.A question is posed to the students.
3.The students are asked to "put their heads together" to assure that everyone knows the answer.
4.The teacher calls out a number and the students with that number raise their hands or stand up to respond.
In addition, individual accountability is established by randomly calling a student number and that student must provide the answer, thus, everyone anticipates being called on.
Complex instructional approach
Elizabeth Cohen, (1991), has developed the complex instructional model of cooperative learning for use in heterogeneous classrooms. Her thesis is that the teacher should not focus on high, medium, or low intellectual abilities of students. Instead, teachers should consider different kinds of intellectual abilities. Intelligence is multidimensional (Gardner, 1983). Frames of Mind, Gardner identified seven kinds of intelligence: linguistic, musical, logical-mathematical, spatial, bodily-kinesthetic, interpersonal intelligence, and intrapersonal intelligence.
This approach is designed for use with elementary students in grades two through five. Students are involved in activities that are challenging and intrinsically motivating. Complex tasks that require multiple abilities are assigned. Students work in groups, using one another as resources to complete the assignment. Group roles, such as materials manager, harmonizer, resource person, and recorder are assigned to individual students. Curricular materials are designed to include activities that are open ended and require higher-order thinking.
Notes:
1.The success of cooperative learning is in large part determined by the quality of the activity that students are asked to participate in. It is not just for drill and practice exercises.
2.The greater the input of students themselves in the selection of topics and themes for cooperative learning, the more motivated and empowered they will be to become self-directed learners.
3.The learning styles of individual students must be taken into account when a determination is made regarding which instructional approach is the most effective. If one method does not work, then try another!
4.Teaching in inclusive classrooms requires a repertoire of instructional approaches. In all likelihood, students with diverse educational needs will require come degree of individualized tutoring in addition to cooperative learning activities.
5.Cooperative learning is not a panacea for solving all of the problems that arise when teaching heterogeneous groups of students. However, it is one of the many instructional methods that a teacher should have in his or her repertoire.
THE COOPERATIVE SCHOOL
The Cooperative School - A place where students, teachers, and administrators can work cooperatively to make the school a better place for working and learning.
A.Cooperative learning in the classroom - Students helping one another to learn is a fundamental principle of classroom organization. Students should see one another as resources for learning. The school philosophy should be the every student's learning is everyone's responsibility, that every student's success is everyone's success.
B.Integration of special education and remedial services with the regular program - Team teaching &
heterogeneous grouping of students.
C.Peer Coaching - This means that teachers should be responsible for helping one another to use cooperative learning methods and to implement other improvements in instructional practice.
D.Cooperative planning - Teachers need time to plan goals and strategies together, to prepare common libraries of instructional materials, and to make decisions about cooperative activities involving more than one class.
E.Building-level steering committee - A committee, made up of the principal, teacher representatives form each grade, representatives of other teaching staff (e.g., special educators, chapter 1, aides, and so forth), parents should be formed
to discuss the schools progress toward its instructional goals and recommend changes in school polices and practices designed to achieve these goals.
F.Cooperation with parents and community members - Parents and members of the community in which the school is located should be invited to participate in the school. The cooperative school is a community school where all members in the community have vested interest in the well being and learning of the students.
RESEARCH ON THE COOPERATIVE SCHOOL
Research has shown the cooperative learning models can provide a fundamental basis for restructuring schools. The classroom can be successfully organized to meet a wide range of needs within the regular classroom setting with special services provided there rather than in separate pullouts.
Cooperative learning models engage all students in working with one another to ensure the success of all. All students are treated as special in the sense that student's' individual needs can be met through flexible use of booth homogeneous and heterogeneous groupings.