4.

5 Collaborative learning

Collaborative learning is an educational approach to teaching and learning that

involves groups of students working together to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a
product. According to Gerlach, “Collaborative learning is based on the idea that learning is a
naturally social act in which the participants talk among themselves (Gerlach, 1994). It is
through the talk that learning occurs”. Collaborating learning is aimed at getting the students
to take almost full responsibility for working together, building knowledge together,
changing and evolving together and of course, improving together. Collaborative learning is a
personal philosophy, not just a class room technique. In all situations where people come
together in groups it suggests a way of dealing with people which respects and highlights
individual group member’s abilities and contributions. There is a sharing of authority and
acceptance of responsibility among group members for the group actions. Collaborative
learning requires working together toward a common goal. This type of learning has been
called by various names: cooperative learning, collaborative learning, collective learning,
learning communities, peer teaching, peer learning, or team learning. What they have in
common is that they all incorporate group work. However, collaboration is more than co-
operation. Collaboration entails the whole process of learning. This may include students
teaching one another, students teaching the teacher, and of course the teacher teaching the
students, too. More importantly, it means that students are responsible for one another's
learning as well as their own and that reaching the goal implies that students have helped
each other to understand and learn.

On the other hand, cooperative learning is a process meant to facilitate the

accomplishment of a specific end product or goal through people working together in groups.
Inevitably, cooperation and collaboration seem to overlap, but in the cooperative model of
learning, the teacher still controls most of what is going on in the class, even if the students
are working in groups. Cooperative learning is defined by a set of processes which help
people interact together in order to accomplish a specific goal or develop an end product
which is usually content specific. It is more directive than a collaborative system of
governance and closely controlled by the teacher. While there are many mechanisms for
group analysis and introspection the fundamental approach is teacher centered whereas
collaborative learning is more student centered.
 The basis of both collaborative and cooperative learning is constructivism: knowledge
is constructed, and transformed by students. The learning process must be understood as
something a learner does by activating already existent cognitive structures or by constructing
new cognitive structures that accommodate new input. Learners do not passively receive
knowledge from the teacher; teaching becomes a transaction between all the stakeholders in
the learning process.

There are many approaches to collaborative learning. A set of assumptions about the
learning process (Smith and MacGregor, 1992) underlies them all:

1. Learning is an active process whereby students assimilate the information and relate
this new knowledge to a framework of prior knowledge.
2. Learning requires a challenge that opens the door for the learner to actively engage
his/her peers, and to process and synthesize information rather than simply memorize
and regurgitate it.
3. Learners benefit when exposed to diverse viewpoints from people with varied
backgrounds.
4. Learning flourishes in a social environment where conversation between learners
takes place. During this intellectual gymnastics, the learner creates a framework and
meaning to the discourse.
5. In the collaborative learning environment, the learners are challenged both socially
and emotionally as they listen to different perspectives, and are required to articulate and
defend their ideas. In so doing, the learners begin to create their own unique conceptual
frameworks and not rely solely on an expert's or a text's framework. Thus, in a collaborative
learning setting, learners have the opportunity to converse with peers, present and defend
ideas, exchange diverse beliefs, question other conceptual frameworks, and be actively
engaged.

Stages in Collaborative/ Cooperative learning

The stages involved in planning activities for collaborative and cooperative learning can
be viewed as follows:

1. Dividing the learners into mixed ability groups: Learners have to be grouped
consisting of mixed abilities. This is crucial as it helps in developing cooperative skills. The
teacher has to ensure that all the members have a specified role to perform. Care is to be
taken to see that the bright ones do not dominate the slower ones.
2. Formulating the expected learning outcome in clear defined terms: A goal has to be
set to be achieved at the end of the activity. It has to be stated in clear unambiguous terms. A
goal directed activity has a focus and hence its importance.
3. Dividing the learning stages in a sequence from those already learnt to the targeted
outcome: When a goal is set, its achievement is based on the previous knowledge of the
learners. These have to be intelligently used to develop a new concept.
4. Careful planning learning activities for each stage: While framing tasks, cognitive
terminology is used such as ‘classify’, ‘analyze’, ‘predict’ etc. The road map to reach the
destination has to be carefully charted; else there is a fear of losing the way. The sequences of
activities that lead to the final outcome have to be carefully designed beforehand.
5. Assisting the learners to construct knowledge at the end of each activity: The
teachers’ role is to assist the learners to come to a conclusion based on the findings.
6. Helping learners to express their learning: The important part of participatory learning
is to allow the learners to speak about their construction of knowledge. It not only reinforces
the learning but also help them improve their soft skills of clarity and conciseness of
communication. In this approach, pursuit of student questions and interests is valued.
7. Carrying out assessment: Evaluation has to be carried out for the teacher as well as
students. Every activity has to be assessed for its effectiveness. This helps in planning similar
activities in a better way in future. Students can also be assessed at the end of each activity to
test their learning. Process is as important as product.

Goals for Education

While we use collaborative learning it is believed that it helps students to learn more
effectively, many of us also place a high premium on teaching strategies that go beyond mere
mastery of content and ideas. We believe collaborative learning promotes a larger educational
agenda, one that encompasses several intertwined rationales.

Involvement calls to involve students more actively in their learning are coming from
virtually every quarter of higher education (Astin, 1985; Bonwell and Eison, 1991; Kuh,
1990; Study Group on the Conditions of Excellence in Higher Education, 1984). Involvement
in learning, involvement with other students, and involvement with faculty are factors that
make an overwhelming difference in student retention and success in college. By its very
nature, collaborative learning is both socially and intellectually involving. It invites students
to build closer connections to other students, their faculty, their courses and their learning.

Cooperation and teamwork. In collaborative endeavors, students inevitably encounter

difference, and must grapple with recognizing and working with it. Building the capacities
for tolerating or resolving differences, for building agreement that honors all the voices in a
group, for caring how others are doing -these abilities are crucial aspects of living in a
community. Too often the development of these values and skills is relegated to the “Student
Life” side of the campus. Cultivation of teamwork, community building, and leadership skills
are legitimate and valuable classroom goals, not just extracurricular ones.

Civic Responsibility If democracy is to endure in any meaningful way, our

educational system must foster habits of participation in and responsibility to the larger
communityCollaborative learning encourages students to acquire an active voice in shaping
their ideas and values and a sensitive ear in hearing others. Dialogue, deliberation, and
consensus-building out of differences are strong threads in the fabric of collaborative
learning, and in civic life as well.
Collaborative Learning Approaches

Collaborative learning covers a broad territory of approaches with wide variability in

the amount of in-class or out-of-class time built around group work. Collaborative activities
can range from classroom discussions interspersed with short lectures, through entire class
periods, to study on research teams that last a whole term or year. The goals and processes of
collaborative activities also vary widely. Some faculty members design small group work
around specific sequential steps, or tightly structured tasks. Others prefer a more spontaneous
agenda developing out of student interests or questions. In some collaborative learning
settings, the students’ task is to create a clearly delineated product; in others, the task is not to
produce a product, but rather to participate in a process, an exercise of responding to each
other’s work or engaging in analysis and meaning-making.

Use of Media in transaction of curriculum:

Transaction of curriculum is a much difficult task because it is based on theoretical

and practical aspects as well. Two basic considerations need to be born in mind while
planning transaction processes. One is the context in which transaction is carried out in terms
of the physical and social characteristics of the setting. Second relates to teachers who
actually are to transact the curriculum - their capabilities and attitudinal dispositions. Thus,
adaptations by teachers to the changing demands of the physical and social settings where the
curriculum is transacted, as well as their own proficiency in various methods of transaction
becomes a pre-requisite for making the process of curriculum transaction effective and
meaningful.

The use of various media in the classroom as it would facilitate association of objects,
save prospective teachers’ time and, provide authentic and correct information. It will make
teaching-learning interesting, provide a simplified view of the complicated data, stimulate the
imagination, develop prospective teachers’ power of observation and acquaint them with
latest developments in the area.

The ability to select, adapt and/or develop media and information literacy materials
and tools for a given set of instructional objectives and student learning needs certain skills
that teacher should acquire. In addition, teachers should develop skills in helping students
apply these tools and resources in their learning, especially in relation to enquiry and media
production. Media production and use should foster a student-centered pedagogy that
encourages investigation and reflective thinking on the part of students. Learning by doing is
an important aspect of knowledge acquisition in the 21st century. Media production provides
an avenue for students to immerse themselves in learning by doing through the production of
texts and images in a participatory environment. Teachers must play an active role in this
process if students are to develop competencies for participatory learning.

Gender education:

The education system must play a positive role in the empowerment of people and
removal of all kinds of biases which are basically man made. The gender discrimination is the
result of human practice. It is in vogue since time immemorial. The degree of discrimination
varies according to the development stage of a particular society. Now it is beyond doubt that
the women have proved to be equally competent in all the fields. Educators should foster in
student equality, promote and strengthen the constitutional culture and stability. To promote
equality, it will be necessary to provide equal opportunity to all, not only in access to
education, but also in the conditions for success. Everyone has to be reminded of the inherent
equality of all through the education. The purpose is to remove prejudices and complexes
transmitted through the social environment.

It is important to deal with the concern that even though India has a clear policy on
undifferentiated curricula for both sexes, biases and stereotypes creep through the learning
materials as well as through those who handle them. One should spell out the concerns that
are to be addressed by the teachers and administrators for eliminating sex biases in an
endeavor to promote gender equality and positive self-concept through curriculum and life
skills approach. It should be brought home to every one through curriculum that biological
sex and social gender are separable concepts from development point of view. The NPE
emphasizes the core values such as equality between sexes/ending social evils and practices
derogatory to women, small family norm, etc.

The Apex Court of India took special interest in discharging its legal and
constitutional obligations and safeguarding the interests of women in changing situation and
societal demands. Article 14 of the Constitution of India ensures to Women the right to
equality and Article 15(1) specifically prohibit discrimination on the basis of sex, and article
15(3) provides for affirmative and positive action in favour of women by empowering the
state to make special provisions for them. Article 16 of the Constitution provides for equality
of opportunity to all, in matters relating to public employment or appointment to any office
and specifically forbids discrimination inter-alia on the ground of sex. These articles are all
justiciable and form the basis of our legal-constitutional edifice. Our natural obligation to
renounce practices derogatory to the dignity of women has been elevated to the status of
fundamental duty by Article 51-A. The directive principles of State policy contained in Part
IV of the Constitution direct the State to protect human rights of women including right to
equal pay for equal work, the right to health and work in hygienic conditions, right to
maternity benefits, and respect for international conventions have significant value in
building the corpus of constitutional feminism. The Equal Remuneration Act, 1976, the
Maternity Benefit Act, 1961, the Prenatal Diagnostic Techniques (Regulation and Prevention
of Misuse) Act, 1994, the Dowry Prohibition Act, 1961 and the Immoral Traffic (Prevention)
Act, 1956 are some of the enactments which owe their existence to those provisions of the
Indian Constitution. The 73rd and 74th Amendments (1993) to the Indian Constitution have
served as a major breakthrough towards enhancing the women's participation in democratic
process.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) reaffirming faith in the

fundamental human rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, and in the equal
rights of men and women, contemplated the entitlement of all cherished freedoms to all
human beings without any distinction of any kind, including discrimination based on sex. The
International Covenant of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, 1966 and the International
Covenant of Social and Political Rights 1966, lay stress on equality between men and
women. The Covenant on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women
(CEDAW) 1979, is the United Nations’ landmark treaty marking the struggle for women's
rights. The Declaration on the Elimination of Violence Against Women (1993) is a
comprehensive statement of international standards with regard to the protection of women.
All the legal provisions and international conventions should be made part of curriculum all
courses.

The following are certain suggestions for gender-sensitive One, effective pictures and
illustrations should show to the children that a woman is not merely a mother, but she can be
a teacher, a doctor, a professor, an engineer, etc. It should be included in the textbook and
reading materials. Two, depicting men and women in scared roles. Three, one can display the
talent of women. Fourth, one can counter, prejudicial references in textbooks, if noticed. The
textbooks are to be made free of gender bias and sex stereotypes. A gender sensitive life
skills approach to curriculum transaction includes all the skills necessary for day today
functioning and covers areas such as family life education, legal literacy and lifesaving skills,
etc. This approach could be a bid to alter the unequal gender relations and empower both
boys and girls for a shared future by breaking down gender stereotyping and gender barriers
in skill development.

Value education:

The whole enterprise of education is extricable linked with the development of values.
Education is necessarily a process of inculcating values to equip the learner lead a life - a
kind of life that is satisfying to the individual in accordance with the cherished values and
ideals of the society. If curriculum devoid the potential to nurture values, education losses its
heart and soul. A most important reason for reorienting education for values is the fact that
the current model of education contributes to the lopsided development of students. The
Constitution encompasses the values for living in harmony with oneself and one's natural and
social environment as well as the universal human values, inherent in the human nature,
which stood the test of time.

The National Curriculum Framework, 2005 echoed the vision of education where
values are inherent in every aspect of schooling. 'Education for Values in Schools - A
Framework' developed by NCERT, suggested the following core values such as Health and
Hygiene; Responsibility for Self-development; Responsibility towards one's work/duty;
Social Responsibility; Love, Care\ and Compassion; Critical and Creative Thinking;
Appreciation for Beauty and Aesthetics. In the frame work, 'pedagogy of values' also
suggested on focus on whole school approach and the underlying assumptions. The pedagogy
of values requires shift from the conventional pedagogy based on the Banking Model of
Education where students are considered as empty vessels into which knowledge must be
poured in. Attitudes, values and skills cannot be developed by forcing students to memories
words, and also not by impositions. Concrete experiences and opportunities to think about, to
reflect, critically evaluate, appreciate one's own values and those of others, can help
internationalization of values. Some general pedagogical strategies silent sitting, role plays,
group activities and projects, group discussion, value clarification, diary writing, reflective
practice etc. have been suggested.

Value education is one of the components of the entire school curriculum, and it
deserves special attention. Values permeate the formal curriculum as well as hidden
curriculum and the pedagogical approach. This approach requires conscious attempt and
proper planning. Curriculum seeks to transmit values through school subjects, the textbooks
and transaction of the subject matter. There are certain encompassing principles underlying
the successful implementation of value education in schools through the five Cs; Connection,
Caring, Critical, Communication and collaboration, and Conviction, commitment and
courage.

Connection: 'Connection' is the key word for implementation of value education. We need to
connect the values prioritized for a particular -school with the school's curriculum and
activities. We need to connect teachers with students, students with students and teachers and
students with parents and community. We need to connect students with life with appropriate
role models. We need to connect schools with the community. We need to connect value
education initiatives with other school interventions. We need to demonstrate to students how
to connect the content of what they learn in one subject with the content learned in other
subjects. We need to help students learn how to connect thinking with emotions and
behaviors, how to connect learning with living and how to connect in positive ways with
teachers, parents, friends and others in their lives. Teachers and administrators need to
connect with one another in new and better ways if value education efforts are to be
successful.
Caring: Similarly, the principle of caring has to permeate the entire school from principal to
students and other staff. The underpinning of value education is that all efforts to foster
values simply will not work without a caring school which comes through by developing
meaningful relationships from pre-primary to higher secondary school. Student should learn
and be encouraged to practice why caring, sharing, helping are good behaviors. So the
important question for school is to consider: If people do not care why go through the
exercise of implementing value education, why and how it cannot be done without the spirit
of caring. Critical: Being critical implies making judgement based on standards or on a set of
criteria. School personnel need to be critical about what they say, what they do, how they
model the values that they are trying to foster. They need to make individual judgements
about promises and practices. They need to be critical to find out and promote practices and
strategies that work and discard those that do not work.

Communication and collaboration: In planning and implementing value education for values,
communication is vital to build confidence, gain support and encourage participation in work.
Collaboration is based on the premise that there are people in school who willingly work
together to create a common bond and who willingly share the responsibility and hold
themselves accountable for the result of their efforts. Collaboration requires clarifying roles,
building trust, refusing to participate in the actions that detract from organizational unity,
efficiency and effectiveness.

Conviction, commitment and courage: Any effort to implement value education will not
bring fruits without conviction to change and to take risk, not knowing how things will turn
out. School personnel need to develop conviction to say that we want our students to learn
values and pro-social behavior. Without the conviction, commitment and courage, it is not
possible for the schools to be prepared for the sacrifice, for time, energy and resources. Sense
of commitment and conviction conveys the message that situations, conditions, events ought
to change in the school by opening up to new experiences and meeting unexpected
challenges. Any action implemented by individuals and groups in schools is likely to bring
about change. That change will be a kind of learning experience for further improvement,
empowerment, cooperation and collaboration. The points discussed above are the basic
principles which can serve as criteria to follow for implementation of education for values in
schools. These principles are not mutually exclusive but are intertwined and are connected.
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