5.

Preparation for Lifelong Learning in practice: cooperative learning

In todays European pedagogic methodology literature the issue of preparation for Lifelong Learning often brings up the importance of cooperative learning methods. However, the application of these in lessons (the question of HOW) is rarely discussed. After a short theoretical overview the following chapter intends to introduce the reader to the practice of the most important cooperative learning methods by presenting concrete examples, which were elaborated in the first semester of the 2005 academic year for the University of Bielefelds Seminar Education development and school education (Unterrichtsentwicklung und schulische Bildung). Naturally, the proposed exercises can be applied in higher education and, with some alterations, in grammar schools and comprehensive schools as well.

Why are cooperative learning methods needed? The ever increasing need for cooperative learning methods in institutionalized learning today can be traced back to the shortcomings of traditional Pedagogy (Nagy 2005). The results of the latest pedagogical and psychological research prove that the traditional, mostly frontal ways of teaching do not meet the demands of todays society any more, they do not prepare the new generations for the active participation in the modern, knowledge-based society and for 89

Lifelong Learning. For this reason, Jzsef Nagy speaks about the failure of the traditional pedagogic culture in every important area of education, but mostly in the area of cognitive development, the cultivation of reason and social competence, or social behaviour. According to him (and many others), the solution would be the introduction of a competence-based, criterion-oriented pedagogy, which is one of the preconditions of Lifelong Learning. One of the most important factors of this is individual and group education by so-called active learning and the application of cooperative learning forms in school education.

What are cooperative learning methods? Norm Green, the international expert of cooperative learning, states that cooperative learning is not only a teaching method but also a philosophy. The cooperative approach to life means an attitude which emphasizes collaboration based on mutual respect and an emphasis on the individual performance of every member of the community (in contrast to competition, where individuals strive to eclipse other members of the group). Its precondition is the consensus created on the basis of the collaboration between members of the community. The experience hitherto shows that students who apply cooperative learning transfer the attitude of cooperation instead of competition into other areas of life, which fundamentally determines their relationship with other people. The cooperative learning form is based on activities of small groups (4-6 members). Beyond fostering intellectual ability and knowledge development, it plays an important role in the creation and development of students social skills. The students work as a group, which means shared responsibility for the results reached by the group, not only for ones own work. 90

Cooperative learning as a method builds on the constructive learning theory, according to which the acquisition of knowledge always happens in a creative, or constructive way: The human brain not only acquires knowledge, but it sorts it, transforms it, recreates it. Like other active learning forms and in contrast to traditional learning methods, cooperative learning methods not only allow, but expressly stimulate the creative constructive functioning of the human brain. Jzsef Benda states that the most important advantages of the cooperative learning forms are the conscious development of social competences and of learnings kills based on experience: The programme, besides the subject content also contains the development of pro-social behaviour (empathy, mutual respect, offering help, accepting others, following the flow of thought of the partner, organization management, assessment, self-control, the competences of emotional intelligence, etc.). The stress is on (experience-based) learning instead of teaching. The source of knowledge is not only the teacher and the book, but the complex educational situation (Benda 2002: 29).

The new role of teachers The application of cooperative learning forms involves a change in the traditional teacher role. The teacher is liberated from the usual knowledgeconveyor role, and becomes, on the one hand, a helping, assisting, co-working workmate in students group work, but on the other hand he also remains in charge as a coordinator. Herman Giesecke highlights the helping role of teachers and defines them as Lernhelfer (Giesecke 1996). Norm Green presents the essence of the new teacher role in the following tasks:

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Decision making: social and special goal setting, group formation, formation of the learning environment, defining the needed learning aids, defining the tasks of the students within the group. Managing the learning process: assigning tasks, creation of positive dependence (interdependence) between the members of the group, creation of individual responsibility, setting and explaining rules (set against students behaviour), developing students cooperative skills. Observation and interference: following students behaviour and interfering in a helpful way during task solving. Evaluation and assessment: developing students self evaluation through the analytical evaluation of the groups work (Green 2005). Based on Johnson & Johnsons 1994 comparison the following table presents the differences between cooperative group learning and traditional group work.

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Traditional group work There is no positive dependence within the group There is no individual responsibility Homogenous group The chosen group leader leads Task solving happens in the centre

Cooperative learning group There is positive dependence within the group There is individual responsibility Heterogenous group Common learning management within the group Task solving and the relationship between the group equally important members are

Social competence does not count The teacher does not interfere in the work of the group The group does not evaluate and reflect on their work.

Developing social competences The teacher follows the work of the group attentively and helps whenever it is needed Evaluation of and reflection on the learning process is the task of the group.

Table 5.1: Differences between cooperative group learning and traditional group work Source: Green 2005

Cooperative learning forms The professional application of the cooperative learning forms on teaching lessons allows for individual learning and the creation of individual ways of learning for students with different abilities, knowledge and interests. These individual learning forms make use of students learning and life experiences and their actual knowledge. 93

In the last two to three decades a multitude of cooperative learning forms have been elaborated in Canada, the United States and Western Europe. In the following, a lesson based on cooperative learning methods which was put together for future teachers will be presented. The presented methods can be used as independent modules, but, if needed, they can also be used as a complete unit or a part of a teaching lesson. Naturally, they can be used in other combinations, and applied for other topics.

Nametag Activity Getting to know one another and presenting oneself is in the centre of this method, which can obviously be used at the beginning of a teaching unit. 1. 2. Every participant receives a nametag (i. e. a rubber band with their name written on it). The participants receive a balloon, on which they write their names and something positive about themselves. In the first round of the introduction, everyone reads this and their name. The participants form pairs. One member of the pair will tell a story from their school experience which had a positive impact on his overall attitude to learning. The other member of the pair, as he listens to the story, will come up with a new positive statement about the other 4. person, which will be written on the balloon after the story ends. In the next round, the task will be repeated with reversed roles. When everyone has finished, the participants will read out (in front of everyone) the positive statements written on their balloons.

3.

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The goal of this task, apart from getting to know each other and presenting oneself, is to activate students individual experience and knowledge about a given topic. The informal sharing of opinion serves, as a defreezer, namely, it helps in the creation of a relaxed, playful atmosphere. Furthermore it helps with the preparation for the given topic. Another goal of the exercise is the creation of a positive attitude of future teachers towards children: They should concentrate, first of all, on childrens strengths and positive characteristics, which can be and need to be developed (and not on their weaknesses). The exercise should always be followed by a deeper elaboration of the topic, for example an opinion grid.

Opinion Grid (Think-Pare-Share) The method of the opinion grid (in German Schreibgitter) integrates and further develops one of the oldest cooperative learning methods, the Think-PareShare method (Kagan 1994), which is based on a mutual exchange of opinion and debate. The task should be performed in groups of 3 or 4 with the help of a worksheet (put together by Rolff in 2004).

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1 1 2

Table 5.2: Opinion grid for groups of 3 and 4 people Source: Rolff 2004

1. 2. 3. 4.

What is an efficient teaching lesson like? This question should be written on the board. As a first step, participants list the three most important characteristics of a teaching lesson (for them), which they write on the first part of the diagram. In the next phase, group members exchange views (opinions). Students write down the other studentsopinion under points 2, 3 and 4. In the next step, based on a debate between the group members, the three most important characteristics of the ones listed individually will be chosen. These will be written in the central square of the diagram. The characteristics chosen by the groups will be written on the board and will be discussed in a shared brainstorming.

5.

The next important step is to systematize the information. The most convenient tool for this is the mindmap method. 96

Mindmap This method is useful for the simultaneous solving of two different tasks (Buzan 1983). First, it helps in the collection of creative ideas and associations about a topic (brainstorming), then it aids the systematization of knowledge by illustrating the different logical connections and relationships. The graphic illustration of the notions and ideas connected with the topic corresponds to a high degree to the systematizing activity of the human brain and resembles the architecture of the most important knowledge-conveyor medium of our days, the internet. This similarity has a positive impact on learning efficiency. 1. 2. Groups of 3-4 members prepare a mindmap containing the notions and ideas collected so far on the board: time limit = 20 minutes. As a next step, all groups present their mindmaps (these should be hung side by side). In the end, a common mindmap is prepared (all groups participating) by using all the graphs of all the groups. This remains visible until the end of the exercise.

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efficient teaching lesson

the personality of the teacher competences

the elaboration of the syllabus in an interesting way

diversity of teaching methods cooperative teaching methods

good coursebook

Table 5.3: Mindmap for the Efficient teaching lesson Source: hidy (2005: 104) based on Sliwka 2000

So far, we have summed up the already existing knowledge of the learners by summarizing and systematizing their individual knowledge. The next step consists of elevating this knowledge to a higher level, controlling and (if necessary) correcting it. Individual knowledge, opinions, viewpoints (attitudes) should be lead from subjectivity into the world of objective facts. For this reason, the next step should be their comparison with the results of empiric research. In our case, Hilbert Meyers short summarizing work The ten most important parameters of the efficient teaching lesson (Meyer 2003) serves as the basis for this comparison (table 4), which sums up the empiric results of the past 10 years.

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1. 2. 3.

First, the teacher presents the results of the scientific research in a short presentation. Then, these are compared with the existing mindmap (in plenary). In the end, differences and similarities are discussed to complete the picture.

1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10.

The logical setup of the learning process Making intensive use of the learning time Matching the goal, content and methods of the teaching lesson Diversity of teaching methods Intelligent practice Individual development A learning environment and an atmosphere that foster learning Discussions and explanations that help understanding Taking into consideration the opinion and suggestions of the students Clearly defined requirements, performance monitoring and evaluation methods

Table 5.4: Hilbert Meyer: The ten most important parameters of the efficient teaching lesson Source: Meyer 2003: 37-43

The results of the relevant empiric research show that the efficiency of the teaching lesson depends to a high degree on the atmosphere at the school, its assumed social tasks, and its pedagogic programme. For this reason, in the following step we are going to deal with the efficiency of the teaching lesson in a wider context, simultaneously presenting several views; the method used will be the Graffiti Steps.

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Graffiti Steps Graffiti Steps (Gibbs 1987) (in German Schneller Schuh) enables the group to perform a group brainstorming task by approaching a topic from different angles. The essence of the method is to change attitudes: In our case, the expectations concerning school and school learning are examined from the viewpoint of teachers/students/employers. 1. What characterizes a good school? This question should be written on the board well visible. For this exercise, several tables should be used, and on them 3 or 4 posters should be placed. On every poster, one aspect of the topic should be written. In this case, we are curious about the expectations of parents, teachers, students and employers. Every group receives one poster; they will approach the topic from the point of view written on the poster. Every member of the group will write down all the ideas and questions they might have about the topic. Time limit = 10 minutes. 2. In the next round, groups switch tables, and every member will write down their ideas and opinions, independent of the other group members and the opinions of the previous group. 3. 4. The switching of the groups ends when every group returns to their original table. The members of the group read out (together) all the observations written on the poster, they systematize these and choose the most important ones, which will then be presented in a presentation in front of everyone.

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E stablishing a good school and providing the efficient teaching lessons is the task of school and education development. In the following a few practical examples of best practice will be presented. The most appropriate is the Jigsaw method.

The Jigsaw Method The Jigsaw method is one of the basic cooperative learning forms (Aronson et. al., 1978). All of its existing variations are built on the principle of learning by teaching. All student groups train themselves to become experts in a topic, following this they pass their knowledge on to the others (this is part two of the exercise). A big advantage of this method is that all participants are assigned the role of students and teachers at the same time. In most cases the material used is written, but films or audio material can also be used. Usually, this exercise takes up a lot of time, for this reason it is worth assigning at least 1.5-2 hours for it. In this exercise, the German education development models create the individual topics. The studies used for the exercise were chosen by Hans-Gnter Rolff (Rolff 2004). 1. For the groups, we should strive for equal size, with groups of 5x5 or 6x6, namely 5 groups of 5 people or 6 groups of 6 people working best.

The groups formed in this way will become the experts. All the members of one groups will be given the same text, which presents their part of a topic. (In one example, 5 expert groups received a study of 5-8 pages about a) Schule & Co. of Westfalia; b) the Horster/Roff, c) the Klippert, d) the Tschekan school development method, and e) a report about the Secondary Modern School Realschule Enger). As a first step, the students read the text independently, they take notes, underline key words, write down their thoughts and questions.

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2.

The next step is a debate of the expert groups, who discuss the common topics in about 10-15 minutes, debating and explaining them. They prepare explanatory material together: slides, mindmaps or drafts.

3.

Then new groups are formed, so that in all of these there is one expert. All the experts present their own model (they are the experts for their topic in the new group now). The next task is to look for similarities between the different models. Every group compiles a list, which is written on a poster.

4.

The posters are hung side by side and all groups present their own, which will then be summed up in a common list in plenary and which can be amended in a common debate.

Expert group

Cooperative group

Table 5.5: The Jigsaw Method Source: Sliwka 2000:23

After having presented expectations concerning school and the teaching lesson and having discussed practical examples of education development (in German Unterrichtsentwicklung) we have arrived at a level where the new knowledge can be generalized. In our case the Outside circle Inside circle is the most appropriate method for this.

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The outside circle inside circle method As the name suggests, we create two circles of equal numbers of students for this exercise. They sit or stand facing each other. By moving the circles new student pairs are created, who split up immediately after solving a task. 1. What do we mean by education development? This question is written on the board. As a first step, everyone writes down individually, spontaneously, in an associative way everything that comes to their mind. Afterwards, every student will choose five terms which best describe the definition of education development. 2. The members of the outside circle will read the five terms for the inside members, who will criticize them, amend them, and ask questions about them. Based on this, the people on the outside will 3. correct their list. The outside circle will step forward one step, and now the inside circle will read out their list, and the outside circle will criticize it, amend it, and ask questions. 4. After three to four steps forward we write all the mentioned notions and terms on the board and create a common definition together, in plenary.

After summing up the new knowledge, it is important to engrain it, and one good method for this is Essay Writing.

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Essay Writing Essay writing is not a new method, but it can be also applied as a cooperative learning method. In this case, two students will write one composition. On the board we write What have we learned about the efficient teaching lesson and education development in this lesson? Students will sum up the new material in about 10-15 minutes. Essay writing can also be applied as a preparation exercise before written or oral exams.

Summary In my summary I would like to deal with some common misconceptions and prejudices about the cooperative learning methods: 1. Cooperative learning methods serve only the development of social competence.

Although cooperative learning methods come up many times in connection with the development of social competence, let us not forget that this is not the sole goal of lessons. For example the Hungarian National Curriculum also names the joint development of the cognitive and social skills as the primary goal of school education (Dancs 2005). Without a doubt the application of cooperatvie learning methods plays an important role in the development and formation of social skills. Empiric research shows, however, that the cooperative learning forms have a positive impact on the development of cognitive skills as well.

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To name only a few examples (Green 2005): In 1987 Madden, Stevens and Slavin demonstrated that cooperative learning forms have a beneficial impact on the efficiency of reading. In 1994 Nattiv demonstrated the positive effect on students readiness to help and their motivation when it comes to mathematical performance. This was confirmed by Springer, Stange and Donovan in 1999. In 1994 Johnson observed that critical thinking, while Yager noted (in 1985) that verbal communication was developed more in the case of students who learned cooperative learning methods. Johnson & Johnson found evidence in 1998, that active learning has a positive influence on students self-esteem. Consequently, cooperative learning methods do not only contribute to the formation of social skills, but they also have a positive impact on the development of the students cognitive skills, a fact which can be empirically proven.

2.

Cooperative learning forms will replace the traditional methods.

Individual methods alone are never good or bad, their efficiency always depends on their concrete application. Accordingly, the goal of applying cooperative learning methods is not the replacement of traditional methods but their amendment. For this reason, the basic precondition of teacher professionalism is the formation of a repertoir of several (the more the better) teaching-learning methods and their continuous improvement (hidy 2004) and the creation and their continuous improvement of the pedagogues diagnostic ability so that they are able to recognize students cognitive, creative and social skills. Apart from the ability to select from a variety of methods, it is equally important not to use the methods simply for the sake of using them. The method should remain only a tool.

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3.

The role of the teacher in cooperative learning lessons decreases.

In cooperative learning lessons the role of the teacher changes significantly. However, this only means change, not a decline of the teacher role; moreover, teacher creativity receives a substantial boost in these lessons. Even though the teachers remain in the background, they are still in control of the lesson. In contrast to frontal teaching they are not the protagonists, but the organizers of the lessons. When compared to traditional lessons, we find that the preparation for the teaching lesson (cooperative lesson) is given a greater role. The application of cooperative teaching methods contrary to common belief requires a lot of preparation and care. But the effort is worth it: Students aversion against subjects decreases substantially (Green 2005), students with modest abilities can voice their opinion and discover their own hidden abilities.

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