Cooperative Learning

https://youtu.be/fBo_Jt_MDTo

Introduction to Topic

Cooperative learning is the instructional use of small groups through which students work together to maximise their own and each other’s learning (Johnson, Johnson, and Holubec, 1994). It can be defined as a variety of classroom management techniques in which students work in small groups on learning activities and receive evaluations based on achievement (Comoglio & Cardoso, 1996). Cooperative learning is related to collaborative learning, which emphasises that learning occurs as an effect of community (Johnson & Johnson, 1999). It is, however, contrasted with individualistic and competitive learning in which students work by themselves to accomplish learning goals that are not related to others, and compete with each other for grades (Johnson, Johnson, and Smith, 1998). Specific characteristics define interactions among students during a cooperative learning process, which is not only forming groups to discuss a topic or study a lesson, urging students to help each other, or assigning a written task to complete with a group work (Comoglio & Cardoso, 1996), instead, it implies a change of both students’ and teachers’ roles, together with careful planning of time, space, materials and assignments.

Key aspects

From a teacher-centred to a learner-centred approach

Besides considering cooperative learning as a specific method, it can be seen as an aspect of a wide educational movement that promotes the development of learning settings as communities where cooperation and learning are strongly intertwined. Characterised by a long history, a prolific research and theoretical elaboration and  vast literature, cooperative learning considers the relationship as an indispensable variable of the learning process (Comoglio & Cardoso, 1996).

Within this approach, the preservation of peer interactions as a means for knowledge co-construction requires that hierarchical teacher-student relationships are questioned. This means taking into account the issue of power in classrooms.

In teacher-centred classrooms there is a hierarchical relationship between the teacher and the students. Power is distributed asymmetrically: the teacher is expected to have control on interactions and consequently limit productive discussions with and between students.

Changing from a teacher-centred to a learner-centred classroom model does not mean that there is no difference of responsibility between teachers and students. In this case, the teachers’ authority is not used anymore to take control, but to construct a space of participation for all. It is a responsibility of teachers to find a way to use the power of their role to promote a democratic learning environment, instead of perpetrating hierarchies (hooks, 1994). The shift from a teacher-centred model of learning to a learner-centred implies several changes in the classroom practice, as represented in Table 1.

Table 1:

Table adapted and modified from Rogers and Frieberg (1994: 240)

In a cooperative learning setting the teacher delegates part of one’s own power and authority in favour of students’ multiple learning centres. This requires that the teacher goes beyond the concerns of losing control, to question existing structures and teaching methods. This means moving from an education in which the knowledge is transmitted only by the teacher, and students have just to receive and memorise the contents, to an idea of education in which learning is a research process with students having an active role. Instead of being just passive receivers of knowledge, they are now critical researchers, in dialogue with the teachers, who are also learners and critical researchers themselves (Freire, 1970).

In this way, teachers are thus required to be in an educational space of higher complexity, where great importance is given to the relationship between all learners. It means that they are active and support students to be more responsible, making the achievement of cognitive, emotional and motivational goals possible. According to Cohen (1994) if the teachers delegate authority, there are more learning centres in operation, the percentage of students talking and working together is higher, and consequently the average learning results are increased. Students’ talking and working together at multiple learning centres ensures higher learning gains.

Cooperative learning vs. simple group work

In literature, two of the most well-known authors on cooperative learning, Johnson and Johnson (1999), have identified five elements that help teachers understand when cooperative groupwork is really promoting learning processes. In this sense, “cooperative learning is the instructional use of small groups so that students work together to maximise their own and each other’s learning” (Johnson et al, 1994: 812). The first characteristic of cooperative learning, and probably the most crucial one, is positive interdependence. It describes the situation where students depend on each other in the sense that they feel the work they are doing together is better than the work they would complete alone. And at the same time, everyone feels part of the group’s success. The second element is about group and individual accessibility. It describes how, when cooperative learning is working in a successful manner, each member feels simultaneously responsible for the group and for their own learning process. The third principle is being face to face, promoting interaction. This means that, if cooperative learning is happening, students are really working together. Their joint task does not have the structure of a chain work, with single steps done by single students that are then assembled together. Instead, students share materials, encourage and help each other, and discuss; in brief, students construct knowledge together. In order to do that, students need to develop interpersonal skills, which is the fourth principle. For example, they need to learn how to listen to each other, but they also need to learn how to constructively critique the work being done and learn how to make joint decisions. This is why it is important that, when we practise cooperative learning, social competencies are a main focus which needs to be explicitly learned. Students need time to understand which behaviours are related to some specific social competences and need time to try these behaviours and to reflect on them. Lastly, the fifth element is about group processing. Here the group moves to a metacognitive level. Group members reflect on their own learning process, looking both at how they are managing the content-related task of the group work, but also looking at the way they are maintaining the relationship and their collaboration.

Students’ benefit from cooperative learning

Cooperative learning is an effective strategy that contributes to the development of a wide range of social, emotional, and cognitive skills. Many researchers have explored the impact of cooperative strategies on learning during the last decade, and their benefits to students are well-documented in literature.

Research consistently indicates that when students work cooperatively, they are more open to diverse ideas, not always coinciding with their own on many matters. Cooperative learning facilitates students to discuss, exchange ideas, and listen to their classmates’ points of view. This process contributes to the enhancement of their oral and active listening communication skills (Al-Tamimi & Attamimi, 2014; Kirbaş, 2017; Namaziandost et al., 2019).

Furthermore, during cooperation and discussions, students realise that their classmates may have the same or different ideas and feelings towards the issues discussed, thus recognising the diverse aspects existing in their classroom. When students are able to understand their classmates’ emotions, and can easily understand each other’s points of view while working together, their empathy increases. Interestingly, cooperative learning was found to significantly reduce bullying amoung students, due to an increase of empathy (Van Ryzin & Roseth, 2019). While cooperating, social interactions are strengthened and increased, and socialisation is promoted . Students and teachers, build positive relationships  during their cooperation to accomplish projects and assignments promoting a positive classroom climate and increasing wellbeing amoung students.

Besides the interpersonal skills developed in cooperative classrooms, students also become efficient in intrapersonal skills. When working together, they learn to offer suggestions and solutions to problems that occur, they learn to defend their opinions while respecting their classmates, and take responsibility for the tasks they work on. Therefore, self-confidence and ownership increase, benefiting students who work together cooperatively. In addition, when students can understand their own emotions and how these emotions influence their behaviour during groupwork, their self-awareness is enhanced.

The benefits from cooperative learning are not only related to social and emotional outcomes (Ferguson-Patrick, 2012). Empirical evidence demonstrates that students working cooperatively gain better academic outcomes in most subjects compared to those working individually in classrooms (Hsiung, 2013; Johnson & Johnson, 1987) and they also display more independent learning when studying (Slavin, 2010). High-order and reasoning thinking is especially promoted, when students work on challenging and demanding tasks (Gillies, 2014). Gillies and Haynes (2011) found that students exposed to challenging questions during cooperative learning offered more complete and detailed answers than those working individually. Furthermore, the implementation of cooperative learning was found to develop students’ critical thinking in reading (Devi, Musthafa & Gustine, 2015) and also enhance problem-solving in elementary and secondary mathematics (Slavin, 2013; Slavin & Lake, 2008). In general, recent reviews show that when students are engaged in inquiry-based cooperative learning, they develop content knowledge and a rich repertoire of skills including cognitive, social, and emotional skills (Barron & Darling-Hammond, 2008).

Having said that, it is evident that successful cooperative learning can lead to significant cognitive, social, and emotional competences on both intrapersonal and interpersonal levels. Students engaged in cooperative learning can easily understand when you work together you can achieve more. In inclusive classrooms, the respect towards diversity is one of the top achievements for successful cooperation.

The contribution of cooperative learning to a democratic inclusive classroom

For an inclusive classroom, participation and valuing diversity are crucial. This is only possible in a democratic classroom environment that views school as a community where students can develop respect and a sense of justice (Ferguson-Patrick, 2012). It implies a transformative understanding of education in the sense that it connects change in education with a broader change in society.

Participation

Through cooperative learning, students participate in activities collaboratively. They learn to co-construct knowledge through interactions. It is necessary to listen and support each other and to interconnect the different forms of previous knowledge. When working on tasks, students may need to explain their opinions and ideas to their peers, thus feeling that they are positively dependent on each other and that the learning experience as a group can be more successful than on an individual level. This promotes the development of a sense of belonging within the group.

In cooperative learning, the motivation to express one’s own thoughts is encouraged, and through collaborative dialogue different students’ perspectives are equally valued. Participation of all can flourish in a cooperative classroom.

Valuing diversity

Democratic classroom interactions require practices of respect, acknowledgment, and recognition of equal worth. In cooperative classrooms, all students’ voices are equally heard and mutually respected.

Working in groups, students learn to discuss and negotiate varied topics in different group settings. They also learn to deal with diverse opinions and find ways to accomplish their group work. At the end of group activities, they have the space to reflect on their working process and learn how to give and receive constructive feedback. This may have a significant impact on their ability to manage conflicts and lead to a more democratic classroom.

Democratic classroom for a democratic society

It can be helpful to see the classroom as a mirror of society. The historical, social, economic, and political structures of society influence students’ opinions and relationships in the classroom. Social patterns are reconstructed and have a greatly impact the behaviour of students. For a democratic stance in society the experience of a democratic class culture is crucial. Teachers can act as advocates promoting equality, freedom, and justice, and be a model for their students in taking responsibility for their actions in the classroom and in society. If students learn to be open-minded and understand the points of view of others, they are more likely to respond to diversity and develop civic and social engagement. They are encouraged to stand up for themselves, but also for other students, and practise civil courage through intervening in situations where students experience discrimination. By means of cooperative learning, classmates are active protagonists of their learning community and can develop the commitment to shape it together. In cooperative classrooms participation is increased and there is less space for exclusion.

The role of teachers in successful cooperative learning for all

Teachers have different tasks, and each one is very important for a successful cooperative learning environment. In fact, teachers are still taking responsibility, in the sense that they create space and structures for students participation in the classroom. Firstly, teachers are designers and organisers of the learning environment and learning units. Together with the students they arrange the classroom in a way that encourages dialogue in an open space. Secondly, teachers are facilitators and moderators. When students are working in small groups teachers promote positive relationships and interactions. Furthermore, they have the role of consultants, advising students when needed. As role models they act in a responsible way in front of students, in the sense that they act coherently with what they say.

Teachers promote equal participation and are aware of their own power and authority in the classroom. They listen to all voices equally and reflect on their own actions in order to become more aware of their own prejudices. Dewey (1938) goes further and suggests that teachers are agents of change that contribute to improve and reshape society founded on democratic values. The classroom can therefore be seen as a microcosm of our wider society. This requires, firstly, a rethinking of the role of the teachers, who acknowledge their own role as a teacher-adult and at the same time carefully avoids setting up a hierarchical and transmissive relationship with students. Instead of reproducing hierarchies they try to reduce them and to contribute to the students’ emancipation.

In fact, leaving learning and socialisation processes fully in the students’ hands would not be beneficial in terms of emancipation. There is a risk of failing to overcome the problem of “consciousness between the oppressed and the oppressor” (Freire, 1970). Freire promotes a form of authority built within a cooperative group, where teachers and students together decide how to work. This facilitates the recognition of each one as a resource for the group and promotes a habit of living and deciding together. In this context, practices such as the children’s parliament or students’ assembly become fundamental. Additionally, teachers should be aware of the diversity in the classroom and of students‘ different experiences that may influence their attitudes towards school. Differences in society may turn to inequalities, and being aware of discrimination can help when understanding the dynamics of the classroom and students’ behaviours. Especially, the acknowledgement that everyone has unique experiences of discrimination that can be intersectional is important. Students may be affected by different forms of discrimination at the same time (racism, classism, ableism, homophobia, etc). A heterogeneous classroom also requires teachers to be aware of geopolitical and historical events which have a great impact on social identities of the students and their relationships. If we see the classroom as a microcosm that reflects society (Dewey, 1938), we will have a better understanding of relationships among students.

The role of students in successful cooperative learning for all

For a successful cooperative learning the enhancement of inter- and intrapersonal competences is required and these foster the students’ role.

Interdependence and common responsibility

Students are responsible both for their individual task and the group’s work. They help and encourage each other, trying to ensure that everyone learns effectively. Due to cooperative interactions an increased autonomy is promoted.

All students exchange information, materials, and accomplish the task together, growing their collaborative culture and limiting the effects of a competitive educational setting. In this environment, help and support are positive and support everyone’s efforts to contribute to the common goal.

Some structures can support the feeling of interdependence (Johnson & Johnson, 1987; Johnson, Johnson & Holubec, 1998):

• Interdependence of purpose: students share a final goal, which can be the production of a drawing, a poster, or studying a specific topic, etc.
• Role interdependence: students play different roles that contribute to the accomplishment of the work.
• Interdependence of information and resources: students share information and resources with each other.
• Identity interdependence: students identify their group with a name or slogan.
• Fantasy interdependence: students imagine a fantastic scenario to set their work, together with the motivations of their choice.
• Context interdependence: the way students occupy the space encourages them to stay together. In this case the organisation of the environment is clearly explained by the teacher.
• Interdependence of evaluation: the evaluation of the group is based on each students’ contribution.
• Celebration interdependence: students “celebrate” the successful achievement of the goal, enhancing the sense of belonging in the group.

Learning to do (and to be) with others:

In a cooperative group the leadership is shared among the students and they can all take up different, but equally necessary roles during the group work.

Here are some examples:

1. Task Roles

• Speakers present the group’s work.
• Synthesisers take notes of the ideas emerged in the group.
• Verbalisers write decisions made by the group.
• Visualisers recap the ideas with drawings, concept maps, diagrams etc.
• Readers read aloud the material provided by the teacher.

2. Maintenance Roles

• Moderators manage the discussion.
• Participation trackers facilitate group interactions, encouraging participation.
• Time Controllers monitor the group’s work progress on the planned timelines.
• Voice Volume Controllers check the volume of the group members’ voice.
• Materials managers organise the materials to accomplish the activity.

In cooperative learning, students are committed both to achieve task-related goals and to foster positive relationships. They care about the difficulties and weaknesses of peers, celebrate their success, support each other with feedback and messages of appreciation and encouragement, since everyone’s contribution is indispensable.

Due to direct and open communication among classmates, students learn to manage conflicts and solve them constructively, in order to make common decisions for the accomplishment of the work (Comoglio & Cardoso, 1996).

Planning cooperative learning

Teaching refers to a set of delineated actions that are organised during the design of the lesson plan before it takes place. Teachers who decide to implement cooperative strategies in their classrooms should know a variety of factors that may influence the learning of their students and the teaching process.

Plan the objectives of the learning unit:

One of the most important steps in designing a learning unit is to define its objectives, taking into account the content and what the students should learn and achieve at the end of it, both at the subject-related level and the socio-emotional goals. Objectives should be content-based and aligned with the desired students’ outcomes to be achieved at the end of the cooperative learning. Precise objectives facilitate teachers to organise a successful instruction and communicate them effectively to students. In other words, it is important that both teachers and students understand what the purpose of the classroom cooperation and its goals are (Anderson et al., 2001).

Tips for planning objectives

• Decide the knowledge, skills, and attitudes you what to achieve through your teaching.
• Mention the target group of your teaching (students).
• Write down clear and precise objectives using active verbs (Anderson et al., 2001; Bloom, 1956; Gogus, 2012).
• Mention the degree of mastery the students should demonstrate.

The objectives should be achievable in the given time of your teaching, easily written, understandable, and challenging. An example of a learning objective based on Bloom’s taxonomy is: At the end of this lesson, students will be able to describe in detail the steps for the design of an app and provide examples of its application.

Choose a cooperative learning strategy

For effective cooperative learning, teachers need to be aware of and confident to use multiple cooperative strategies in different circumstances based on the projects’ objectives and the needs and interests of the students. Literature provides us with a variety of cooperative strategies that can be applied in classrooms. Indicatively, some of the most well-known and widely implemented are: Think Pair Share, Numbered Heads Together, Jigsaw, and Peer Tutoring.

Think Pair Share: There are three stages to this cooperative discussion strategy:

(1) Think: The teacher poses a question or gives a prompt to the class to get them thinking. Students take a few minutes to think about the question individually.

(2) Pair: Students discuss their answers / thoughts with a classmate, compare, reconsider them and come up with answers that are more convincing to them.

(3) Share: Students share and discuss their ideas /responses with other classmates in a four student group or larger groups or with the whole class (Lyman, 1987).

Numbered Heads Together:  This is a cooperative learning strategy with four steps that aims for the maximum involvement of all students in the activity.

(1). Students are numbered usually from 1 to 4.

(2) Teacher informs them about the topic they will work on and the time limit.

(3) To complete the task, students put their heads together, think, discuss, and cooperate.

(4) Teacher calls out a number from 1 to 4 and the numbered student should present the group’s work.

Jigsaw: This is one of the most popular cooperative learning techniques that promotes students’ interdependence, socialisation, social skills, collaboration, listening, and academic growth. Although it can be found in different versions (Drouet et al., 2023), all of them share a common structure which is outlined below.

The teacher divides the day’s lesson into five or six segments and creates Jigsaw groups of five or six students. Then, the teacher distributes each segment to each of the students in the Jigsaw groups. Next, students from different Jigsaw groups get together in “expert” groups to help one another get ready to teach their Jigsaw groups their individual pieces. Then, all students come back to their initial Jigsaw groups and “teach” their group the assigned part of work. At the end, the teacher gives a quiz to the students (Aronson et al., 1978).

Peer Tutoring: It is a cooperative technique that promotes peer assisted learning.  When this technique is applied, more experienced students act as tutors and assist less experienced ones on a specific task to learn the material (Topping, 2020).

Research suggests that these strategies, when used in classrooms, facilitate the promotion of students’ learning and a rich repertoire of skills. The choice of which strategy will be chosen is definitely a professional decision made by the teacher who will take into account how the students will approach the material and develop their cooperation in order to fulfil the lesson’s objectives.

Design assessment:

Both formative and summative assessment can be applied in a cooperative classroom. Formative assessment is used to provide teachers and students with feedback during the learning process, while summative assessment is organised to judge the final products and is highly related to the content knowledge. A successful assessment should be aligned with the objectives and the content of the activities that will take place during cooperative learning. It is highly recommended for teachers to differentiate the assessment keeping in mind the different needs, interests, background, and learning styles of their students. Different assessment activities can be implemented at different cooperation stages and can be conducted by teachers, the students themselves (self-assessment) or their peers in groups (peer-assessment). The evaluation results guide both teachers and students to consider factors that positively influenced the cooperative learning and also reconsider those that may have hindered it. The assessment informs the cooperative learning in subsequent lessons.

Tips for designing the assessment:

• Identify the objectives set for the cooperative learning.
• Select the appropriate assessment techniques for the cooperative learning.
• Decide at which stage of the cooperative learning each assessment technique will be adopted and by whom (teachers, students themselves or peers).
• Make sure that the assessment content is aligned with the objectives of the lesson.
• Design and differentiate the assessment, taking into account the different needs, interests, background, and learning styles of your students.
• Carefully read the results of the assessment, and share them with the student.
• Consider factors that may influence the success of the cooperative learning both positively or negatively.
• Adjust or improve your next lessons in your cooperative classrooms based on the assessment results.

Prepare material and means:

The materials and means used in cooperative classrooms are of great importance for successful learning. Teachers should decide on the format and the content of the materials provided during the cooperation in order to facilitate students to achieve the learning goals. It is highly recommended that the content of the material, its format, as well as the means that will be used are based on the diversity of the classroom. Teachers should take into consideration the attributes of the students, their needs, interests, background, and learning styles, offering them different learning paths. Furthermore, the preparation of the material should be based on the principles of cooperation providing all students equal chances to access different types of material and to work cooperatively.

Tips for preparing the material of a lesson:

• Prepare accurate and easy understandable material based on the students’ competences.
• Prepare material in different formats that facilitate students with different learning styles, needs and interests.
• Check that your material is easily visible and accessible to all.
• Make sure that the material is aligned with both lesson’s objectives and assessment.
• Choose the means that facilitate your students to have easy access to the material from different paths.
• Make sure that the means you choose are well maintained and in good condition.

Organise time.

There is not always adequate time to reach all our goals. This can depend on many factors, both external and internal. However, in the case of classroom activities, time may not be flexible enough, taking into account that school hours are fixed and set by the school administration for the whole school year. Time is an important factor that influences the flow of cooperative learning, and students’ accomplishments at the end of the activities. To have a maximum didactic time enriched with meaningful cooperation among students, teachers should ensure that the lesson plan and the designed activities are in line with the time provided for the lesson.

In the cooperative classroom, at some stages, students can also contribute to organise time. The opportunity for example, to define the time spent autonomously for single steps of an assignment could be a way to meet the differences in learning pace.

Tips for planning the time:

• During the design of your lesson, estimate the time needed per each task.
• Make sure at the start of the lesson that you have access to an item to tell you the time, for example a clock or smartphone, or set an alarm, if needed.
• In order to engage the students in having a sense of time in relation to their assignments, ask one student per group to keep time (timekeeper).
• Advise the students of the time at regular intervals and continue or stop activities based on the needs and the interests of students, as well the learning objectives set.

Organise space:

Space is also one factor that can influence the success of cooperative learning in a classroom. Teachers who decide to organise a cooperative classroom should take care of the space based on the strategies that they will adopt. For example, the number of groups and numbers of members in each group will affect the arrangement of the furniture in a classroom and play an important role in facilitating easy and productive communications among students and teachers, as well as the group working at them. The layout of the classroom should be relevant to the cooperative strategy chosen and the groups using it. Ensuring adequate lighting, avoidance of distracting noises, easy eye-contact, and access to materials in the classroom are also crucial for a successful cooperative learning experience. The physical arrangement of the classroom will facilitate students to work effectively in groups. If there is adequate time, students could be involved in arranging the learning space, this might increase engagement and a sense of belonging.

Tips for planning the space:

• Arrange the desks and chairs in circles or half circles based on the cooperative learning strategy, the numbers of the groups, and group members in the classroom.
• Ensure that the classroom layout will facilitate the groups working.
• Make sure that all members of the group can have eye contact and listen to each other without difficulty.
• Make sure that the seating arrangements provide students with easy access to learning materials.
• Engage students in the process of arranging the space to enhance their participation and their feeling of belonging.

Ensuring equal participation in inclusive cooperative learning for all

The work by Elizabeth Cohen and her group, made visible how status characteristics affect participation in cooperative learning. At the initial stage of her work, in the US she compared the rates of interactions and the influence on the group decisions of white adolescents, perceived to be high status, and African-American or Mexican-American, perceived to be low status, and described how participation and influence of the high status members was significantly higher (Cohen, 1972; 1982). Aware of that, it becomes clear that the issue of ensuring equal participation requires challenging status hierarchies in the classroom. Cohen’s group developed numerous intervention models and strategies that can be adopted by teachers to put this idea into practice and organised them in the approach of Complex Instruction (Lotan & Holthuis, 2021). In their collaboration with schools, scholars of the group recognise that “to organise the classroom for equitable interactions among students, the teacher’s task becomes increasingly complex, non-routine, and uncertain” (Lotan & Holthuis, 2021: 70). This is why the implementation of strategies can be seen as a complex learning process, both for students and teachers, that requires time, braveness to experiment, tolerance with errors, and patience to reflect on them in order to refine the intervention.

Grouping strategies.

A first crucial strategy is related to grouping. How shall small groups of students be composed? If the choice is left to the students, they will probably reproduce the spontaneous relationship network they have in the classroom. Reflecting on this in terms of status, this kind of procedure is connected with the high risk that some popular students are highly requested, whereas others are left out or reluctantly included, reproducing marginalisation processes.

In literature, besides preference groups, other two grouping strategies are described: randomly defined groups and groups defined by the teacher (Klippert, 2012). An example of a random grouping technique could be asking each student to choose a stone and then finding students with a similar stone to meet in a group. In this case, everybody has the same chance to work with each other and this fact clearly conveys the idea that the teacher trusts that each combination can be a good one for successful work to be completed on the assignment.

In other situations, the precise design of each single group by the teacher can also be an interesting option. Groups can be built along the criteria of homogeneity or of heterogeneity. For example, students could be grouped homogeneously according to common interests. It could be the case of an assignment that aims at the development of reading comprehension competences, where all groups work on the same competence but on texts that address different topics, according to their interests. In the event of intellectually challenging assignments, that need for example, problem-solving or the development of a project, heterogeneous groups can be a more interesting solution. In this case, it is exactly the coexistence of different talents, interests, social abilities, and ways of learning that facilitate the completion of the task (Lotan, 2014).

Mitchell’s work on “What really works in Special and Inclusive Education” (Mitchell, 2014)  underlines the limits of establishing homogeneous groups in terms of ability, especially for students that struggle or are hard to reach. Assigning students to low-ability groups communicates low expectations to students and reduces learners’ opportunities.

Anticipating diversity.

A second possible strategy to facilitate equal participation is to anticipate diversity in the way the assignment and the materials for the groups are designed. This means that, following the principles of Universal Design for Learning (https://udlguidelines.cast.org/), teachers plan in advance with heterogeneity in mind instead of adapting for single students at a moment’s notice. In practice, the teacher can design assignments that imply that different students in different groups can activate multiple ways of learning within the same or different assignment(s). For example, students may have the option to present the result of group work both with a visualisation poster or with an oral presentation, depending on their preferences.

Another important aspect in anticipating diversity is the idea of getting access to multiple and flexible materials. So, for example, new knowledge that the group needs to understand in order to work on the group task, can be presented with the option of choosing between a video or a text. Again, students choose according to their preferences.

Role assignment.

A third strategy that can be adopted in order to facilitate equal participation is the assignment of specific roles to the single students working in the group (Johnson & Johnson, 1999). This can be seen as a way to structure shared leadership: assigning a role means making a member of the group responsible for a task that is necessary to the group in order to succeed. If this is not done, students will probably act according to the statutes they spontaneously have within the group. This means that those who are perceived as leaders will take up the leadership role. A person with a low status instead will participate and influence the group much less. Assigning specific roles becomes a way for the teacher to limit the impact that status has on participation and to question the status itself. In fact, assigning roles symbolically represents how each member is necessary to the group and contributes to the realisation of positive interdependence (Thomas, 1957).

Different kinds of roles exist (for example see the paragraph on the students’ role in cooperative learning). To strategically challenge status the teacher can manage who takes on which role within the group. This might highlight a student’s talent in the group, or it may limit the dominant influence of others. If the decision is accompanied by a reflection of their own strengths and weaknesses, the assignment of roles can be decided together with the students. The reflective process leads them to move beyond spontaneous status dynamics.

Adult’s support.

The last aspect we would like to highlight is the fact that, even though cooperative learning is based on students being the protagonists of the learning process, adult’s support can be very crucial and important, especially in order to facilitate and ensure equal participation. This means that every time students are excluded, discriminated against, or experience a form of marginalisation, the teachers’ reaction is crucial. Teachers, in fact, can explicitly intervene and show that unfairness and exclusion is not accepted in the classroom environment. Or they can decide to act in a more indirect way praising the students’ actions and explicitly acknowledging the contribution of students with a lower status (Lotan & Holthuis, 2021). In this way, they make it clear that in our inclusive classroom, every voice counts.

Local contexts

Literature

About the authors

name: Heidrun Demo

Her work centers on equity in education, with a particular focus on supporting diverse learners, fostering inclusive teaching practices, and driving inclusive school development. She is deeply involved in research and teacher training, dedicated to creating and sustaining inclusive learning environments.

name: Vana Chiou

Vana Chiou loves teaching and training future teachers on contemporary teaching methods and techniques. Her research interests include contemporary methods of teaching and assessment, teacher training, inclusion and education. Her published work includes editing books, chapters in books and articles in Greek and international journals.

name: Miriam Cuccu

Miriam Cuccu, pedagogist and subject expert in general and social pedagogy at the University of Macerata (Italy). She is involved in projects focused on intercultural education with a community-based and arts-based approach. She collaborates in monitoring and evaluating interventions to counter educational poverty and in training for education professionals. Her main research interests include dialogue between cultures, community participation and empowerment through creative languages.

name: Özge Özdemir

Özge Özdemir works in extracurricular political education with a strong focus on anti-racism, anti-discrimination and empowerment. During and after her studies of political science and sociology in Frankfurt am Main, she specialised in working with young people and adults in educational work. Her activist experiences form the basis for both her practical educational work and her academic career.