Cooperative Learning
Restructuring learning contexts
Te Kotahitanga
Ko koe ki tēnā, ko ahau ki tēnei
kīwai o te kete.
You at that end and I at this end of the
basket.
GEPRISP
STRATEGIES is one of seven interdependent
elements within GEPRISP
As a strategy Cooperative Learning offers a range
of group structures that can support the shift from
traditional (transmission) to discursive (interactive)
classroom interactions.
Why Cooperative Learning?
When implemented effectively Cooperative Learning:
• Supports NZC e.g. Key competencies
• Allows for differentiation
• Increases student involvement in learning tasks
• Increases student motivation
• Fosters the development of interpersonal skills
• Promotes positive interdependence
• Develops higher order thinking skills e.g. critical thinking
• Develops problem-solving skills
• Fosters the development of communcation skills
• Leads to improved academic outcomes
3 Styles of
structuring
the learning
environment
Competitive
Individualistic
Cooperative
“I swim, you sink.”
“You swim, I sink”
“We are each in
this alone.”
“We sink or
swim together”
5 fundamental and interdependent elements
Positive interdependence
Individual accountability
Group and individual reflection
Small group skills
Face to face interaction
Positive interdependence
“ This is the core of cooperative learning.”
Brown & Thomson. (2000). p.26
The success of the individual depends on the
success of the group as a whole.
Each group member needs the others to complete
the task.
Facilitating opportunities for
positive interdependence
“Positive interdependence is a concept that only
experience can fully develop. Students will not
automatically look out for one another.”
Brown & Thomson. (2000). p.27
Setting up for success:
•The task is structured so as to engage all
members of the group
•A shared outcome / goal that is understood by all
•Roles within groups structured in such a way that
all students are able to do what is being asked of
them
Think Pair Share
What do you understand about the
idea of positive interdependence?
How has this been modelled for you
during this hui?
How might you facilitate learning
opportunities within your own
curriculum area that will develop
positive interdependence?
Individual accountability
“What students can do in a group today they can do by
themselves tomorrow.”
Brown & Thomson. (2000). p. 28
Each student is responsible for:
• Their own learning
• Ensuring everyone in the group learns as much
as possible
• Achieving the group goal
• The smooth functioning of the group
Facilitating opportunities for
individual accountability
• Randomly choose one member of a group to answer
questions or report on the progress of the group
• Remind the group often that they are mutually
responsible for the work they complete
• Have each group member explain their group’s work to
another group
• Randomly choose a group to hand in work in progress
• Students sign their work to show they are ready to stand
by it
Think Pair Share
“Developing intrinsic motivation is a lengthy
process that begins with feelings of personal
success and competence”. Brown & Thomson. (2000). p. 29
How does this connect with your current
understanding of individual
accountability?
How might you support your learners to
be successful and competent within an
interdependent group context?
Group and Individual
Reflection
“Reflection is a key ingredient in developing
personal responsibility and metacognitive skill.”
Brown & Thomson. (2000). p. 31
Reflection:
• Fosters higher order thinking skills in authentic
settings
• Develops student responsibility for their own
learning
• Allows for future growth
Reflection involves:
• Evaluating how well they did the task and how
well they worked together
• Analysing what they did in order to identify
factors that helped or hindered the smooth
functioning of the group
• Setting goals that will help the group function
better in the future
Think Pair Share
What connections can you see between
these ideas about reflection and
developing interdependence as learners?
How and when might you facilitate
opportunities for learners to reflect on the
implications of their interactions with one
another within a group activity?
Small Group Skills
“We are not born cooperative. We have to be taught the
skills of working together.” Brown & Thomson. (2000). P. 73
Task skills
• Generating, contributing
and elaborating on
ideas
• Staying on task
• Managing time
• Following instructions
• Planning and reviewing
progress
Working relationship
skills
• Acknowledging
contributions
• Checking for agreement
• Disagreeing in an
agreeable way
• Encouraging
• Showing appreciation
Think Pair Share
How might you determine what small
group skills learners already have and
what skills they have yet to develop?
How might you support learners to
develop these skills?
What connections do you see between
this aspect of cooperative learning and the
others already spoken about – positive
interdependence, individual accountability
and reflection?
Face to face interaction
Focussed on each
other
Follow ideas of
others
Keen to contribute
Leaning into the
conversation
Looking around
Several
conversations
occurring
Individuals
isolated from the
group
Group not going well
Group going well
“ eye to eye and knee to knee” (Brown & Thomson. (2000). p. 32)
Facilitating successful face to face
interactions
• Groups of no more than four
• Setting up the physical environment so it is easy
for students to work cooperatively in groups and
more difficult to disengage from the group –
desks in groups not rows
• Teach appropriate skills when required
5 fundamental and interdependent elements:
Positive interdependence
Individual accountability
Group and individual reflection
Small group skills
Face to face interaction
Kagan talks about:
Positive interdependence
Individual accountability
Equal participation
On average, teachers working within the transmission
model do almost 80% of the talking in the classroom (John
Goodlad, 1984) - if you divide the remaining 20% by the
number of students in the class …?
Simultaneous interaction
Kagan, S. & Kagan, M. ( 2009). Kagan Cooperative Learning.
Victoria, Australia: Hawker Brownlow Education
Think Pair Share
What connections do you see between
Cooperative Learning and a culturally
responsive pedagogy of relations?
Consider, for example:
• Connectedness
• Ako
• Power sharing and interdependence
• Interactive, dialogic learning conversations
• Learners able to bring their own prior
knowledge and experience to the learning
Further reading:
Brown, D. & Thomson, C. (2000). Cooperative Learning in
New Zealand Schools. Palmerston North, New Zealand:
Dunmore Press Limited
Kagan, S. & Kagan, M. ( 2009). Kagan Cooperative
Learning. Victoria, Australia: Hawker Brownlow Education