5-1 Collaborative Education

Collaboration is one of the “Four Cs” of 21st Century Learning (Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity). Collaboration allows individuals to function and be successful in their future academic endeavors, careers, and interpersonal relationships. Knowing this, education models have shifted away from some of the individualistic, content-driven, mastery-based goals of the past and toward more open-ended, project-based, cooperative learning goals.

Rather than delivering lectures and dispensing information, teachers are encouraged to facilitate activities as students work together drive their own learning. The move to create collaborative environments in the classroom lead to an increase in project-based learning, inquiry, station rotation, group projects, discussion, reciprocal teaching (jigsaw), gamification, case studies, peer learning, and so much more. So many aspects of lesson planning, classroom management, and learning are involved in implementing these collaborative strategies.

A collaborative learning environment benefits students because it provides the opportunity for students to learn from strong peers, to question and challenge one another, to perform error analysis or to justify their responses through discussion, and more. Students learn content most effectively by speaking about what they know and by listening to their peers. Additionally, a collaborative environment fosters communication skills, the ability to compromise, opportunities to provide and receive constructive criticism, opportunities to practice leadership, and opportunities to surrender leadership and work as a team-player–all essential life skills in and out of the classroom.

Further, teachers benefit from these collaborative environments because they provide an opportunity for modifications through intentional grouping (students in need of support can be paired with strong peers). Station rotation and other group work activities that involve students investigating or completing challenges with their groups can free up the teacher to check-in with small groups, meet with individuals, or run a remediation station during class time. Collaborative learning environments put students in the driver’s seat and give teachers more opportunities to provide support.