How To Promote Cooperative Learning In Children?
Encouraging cooperative learning in children is essential for them to know how to work as a team from an early age. To know how to teach them this skill, it is necessary to know some collaboration strategies that can be put into practice from school.
In fact, school is the best context to instruct children in cooperation, as it is a place where they spend a large part of the day and where they are forced to remain in contact with other classmates.
What is cooperative learning?
Cooperative learning is an educational approach that consists of grouping students to work as a team and carry out academic activities in a coordinated way. Said groups of students must be:
- Reduced.
- Mixed.
- Heterogeneous.
Thus, children become the protagonists of the learning process, since they assume knowledge autonomously and actively, being guided and supervised by the teacher. Therefore, it can be said that the objectives of cooperative learning are:
- Promote positive social relationships among students.
- Promote respect and acceptance of diversity.
- Get students to be autonomous and independent in the construction of their own learning.
- Improve group cohesion.
- Form a climate of positive coexistence.
- Attend to the educational needs of all students.
- Reduce school failure.
How to promote cooperative learning in children?
To promote cooperative learning in children and enhance collaboration among students, it is necessary to know how to put into practice various educational strategies, such as peer tutoring or interactive groups. Below we explain what each of these techniques consist of.
Peer tutoring
Peer tutoring is a collaborative strategy among students that consists of forming pairs with each other. Thus, each of the members assumes one of the following roles:
- Tutor. The one in charge of teaching.
- Tutorized. The newbie.
They must work together on a common, shared and known goal, which is achieved through a framework of interaction planned by the teacher.
With this learning technique, the student with the role of tutor learns by offering pedagogical help to his partner, since he must prepare the contents in a reflective way to be able to explain them to his partner. And, in addition, you have to be able to ask questions about knowledge, ideas, relationships or principles.
In turn, the tutored learns thanks to the personalized and permanent help he receives from his partner. But, for this to be carried out correctly, the teaching staff must be in charge of:
- Give feedback to the student tutor regarding their performance and deficiencies observed.
- Carefully plan the learning process.
- Prepare the appropriate materials.
- Train students in their respective roles.
- Structure the relationship of the couples, giving them time to learn to function.
- Propose tasks that are meaningful and vital for students.
In addition, the evaluation must also be made by the student tutor towards his / her tutor, highlighting their progress and progress.
Interactive groups
Another didactic strategy to promote cooperative learning in children is the so-called interactive groups. This is based on the formation of small groups, between three and six members, and heterogeneous, in which all the components fulfill a part of the task independently, but with a shared purpose.
Each team is guided by an adult (they can be teachers, family members, counselors, etc.) who has the task of stimulating activities and mediating learning. For its part, the teacher in charge of being the classroom tutor has the role of:
- Coordinate tasks.
- Organize the responsibility of each member involved.
- Form the groups.
- Attend and support the needs that arise during work.
- Explain the learning activities.
- Monitor the process and evaluate student achievement.
In addition, dialogue between children is essential for the proper functioning of interactive groups. Which empowers the little ones to feel useful, listened to and have a greater self-concept and better social skills.
Likewise, it is necessary that, at the end of each session, talk about the work done so that the students reflect on the class and reinforce what they have learned.
