WORKING ON CL IN COLOMBIA. Some challenges and how to overcome them

In my previous posts, I have praised the multiple benefits of working on Cooperative Learning in EFL teaching/learning. The advantages of this strategy are undeniable, but what about our context? Is there any disadvantage of working on Cooperative Learning in Colombian Classrooms? The answer is pretty clear. Indeed, I have found myself struggling with CL. However, this does not imply that CL is inefficient or inadvisable in Colombia. On the contrary, I highly suggest Colombian teachers giving Cooperative Learning a try. Therefore, I want to highlight the most common challenges of CL and some simple ways to overcome them.

A LARGE NUMBER OF STUDENTS

A major disadvantage of Cooperative Learning, and of any other approach or method I have known, is the number of students. We all know it is not the same to work with 20 students than to work with 40. Even when you are working with small groups it is still difficult to assist everyone. If you do not find a solution to this issue, your class may become a mess, and your students might feel lost. Therefore, the best way to overcome this problem is to prepare your class meticulously and make sure all your students understand the main goal and the steps they have to follow in order to accomplish it. By doing this, you are avoiding unnecessary questions from your students, and they will be able to follow and complete the task in a more independent way. Another strategy you can implement is to assign roles to your students, making sure they will come up with their own solutions to continue their tasks without excessive teacher’s intervention.

SMALL CLASSROOMS

Clearly, most Colombian classrooms are really small for the number of students they have. When students do not feel comfortable in their environment, they might get anxious, distracted, and disengaged. As CL requires making groups, students need enough space for moving around the classroom. One solution I have found for this issue is the arrangement of the seats. Believe it or not, the way you organize the seats around the classroom makes a great difference in physical space. According to the number of students per group, I have organized the seats in a comfortable way, in which everyone can stand up or walk without any problem. If you consider the size of your classroom and take advantage of every little space you will notice a difference. However, there are many CL activities that allow you to go outside from the classroom and find a better space for learning.

TOO MUCH TALKING

Although Cooperative Learning intends to have your students discussing and participating in their groups, sometimes not class-related conversations can happen. Therefore, you as the guide and facilitator must be checking your groups and making sure they are working and following the steps for achieving their goal. You can also set expectations at the beginning of each task, explaining the moments when your students should be working and talking over their task and the moments they can have small personal chats. If some groups finish their task first, they probably may start talking with their partners. This chatting can distract other groups, impeding the flow of the class and harming others’ performance. To avoid this, you can bring to your class a small box or jar with several options for your students to do when they are finished with their work. The members of the group can select one paper inside this box and follow the directions. In the image you have an example taken from Pinterest, this way of avoiding distracting conversations is fun and engaging for your students, make sure you try it.

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COOPERATIVE LEARNING VS COLLABORATIVE LEARNING

We have widely discussed the concept of Cooperative Learning, its characteristics, and benefits in the EFL learning and teaching. However, when it comes to working together, concepts as Cooperative Learning and Collaborative Learning are mostly used interchangeably. Hence, it is essential to differentiate these terms and know the significance of each one of them in our classrooms.

To better understand the concepts Ted Panitz (1999) describes two simple definitions of these terms:

“Collaboration is a philosophy of interaction and personal lifestyle where individuals are responsible for their actions, including learning and respect the abilities and contributions of their peers.”

“Cooperation is a structure of interaction designed to facilitate the accomplishment of a specific end product or goal through people working together in groups.” (p.3)

As it may be perceived, Collaborative learning is not just a classroom technic, it is a way of living and interacting with others in a community, inside and outside the classroom. On the other hand, Cooperative Learning is focused on the accomplishment of a subject-related product. However, as learning techniques, these concepts have a lot in common; for instance, they both use groups, assign specific tasks, and have the groups share and compare their procedures and conclusions in the class. Then, where the real difference lies and why so many teachers prefer Collaborative Learning?

Rocky Rockwood (as cited in Panitz, 1999) states that in Cooperative Learning, it is the teacher who has the authority, who takes ownership of the task, and who guides the learning process. While in Collaborative Learning, the teacher transfers all the authority to the students who are fully responsible for their learning, actions, and tasks. Bearing in mind this definition, many authors have concluded that Collaborative learning is a more independent technique focused on the process, while Cooperative Learning is centered on the product.

Therefore, Cooperative Learning sets the basis for a student-centered approach, where the authority and learning are shared by the teachers and students. In cooperative learning, a common goal, structures/steps, and a subject based product are needed. As it was already mentioned, students work together in order to finish an activity or to achieve a common goal, this product has not the same relevance in Collaborative Learning.

However, according to Brufee (as cited in Panitz, 1999), these two approaches can be seen as linear processes. In this regard, Cooperative Learning is the first technique to implement in order to work with primary students and learn basic information and processes for interacting socially. Then, students may extend their critical thinking and reasoning skills by taking more control over their learning and social interactions while working on collaborative activities.

Now that you know some of the differences between these two concepts, would you implement collaborative learning with primary students? If so, how would you develop the independence and autonomy needed for this purpose? Do you agree with Brufee linear perception? Tell me in the comments.

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