What is the Definition of School Collaboration?
School collaboration refers to a teaching strategy employed by educators in the classroom where students are divided into small groups. Each group is assigned one or more tasks, which often include a variety of activities. Upon completion of their tasks, students receive rewards or some form of recognition based on their collective performance.
What is the Importance of School Collaboration?
The significance of school collaboration can be summarized in the following points:
- Enhancing students’ cognitive abilities.
- Promoting social awareness.
- Helping students overcome the fear of speaking in front of peers.
- Facilitating better acquisition of academic skills and knowledge.
- Encouraging active processing of information.
- Fostering healthy competition.
- Increasing emotional awareness.
- Teaching students the importance of serving others.
- Assisting students in accepting responsibility.
- Making learning enjoyable and meaningful.
- Providing students with opportunities to explore future career paths.
What are the Techniques of School Collaboration in the Classroom?
School collaboration in classrooms is categorized into two types: formal collaboration and informal collaboration.
What is Informal School Collaboration?
This technique involves grouping students into small teams, typically consisting of 2 to 4 members, for a short duration, such as a classroom session.
What are Examples of Informal School Collaboration?
- Think-Pair-Share Technique: The teacher poses a question to the students, asks them to consider their responses individually, and then invites them to discuss their thoughts with a partner. Finally, the class engages in a broader discussion of the responses.
- Best Answer Voting Technique: In this method, the teacher presents multiple-choice questions, and students independently vote for their preferred answer. After collecting responses, students are encouraged to discuss their choices with peers before the teacher reveals the correct answer and initiates a class-wide discussion on the topic.
- Jigsaw Technique: In this approach, students are divided into small groups of 3 to 4 members. Each group receives a different segment of the required material. A member from each group is tasked with mastering their section and then teaching it to their teammates. This process continues until all members are knowledgeable about the entire subject matter, after which they take turns teaching what they have learned to the rest of their group.
What is Formal School Collaboration?
In formal collaboration, students work together on one or more tasks for the duration of an entire semester. The teacher organizes the students into groups, clearly defines the objectives of the activity, and explains the roles and success criteria for each participant. In this scenario, the teacher’s role is active and facilitative, offering support and problem-solving assistance throughout the collaboration process while also providing motivation and encouragement to the students.