Low test scores, low self-esteem and high dropout rates among African-American and Latino students have been sending a clear message to school administrators, legislators and
parents for a half century that new approaches in teaching and learning must be utilized to disabuse these problems for our children. However, the challenge remains largely unmet.Another challenge is
the startling polarization of students into cliques based on race and ethnicity in a growing number of schools. Schoolyards are frequently divided into three, four or more sections with each racial or ethnic group
claiming their own turf. Where teachers are permissive the classrooms often mirror the school yard and students segregate themselves while occupying the same room.
Ironically, an approach for
attacking both these problems has been used successfully for nearly two decades but it is still a long way from gaining acceptance. The approach was derived from Gordon Allport's classic work,
The Nature of Prejudice published in 1954. Allport used evidence to introduce his contact theory indicating that when individuals of different racial or ethnic groups work together on a common footing
toward a common goal, and are given opportunities to know each other as individuals, they became friends and overcome the prejudice they hold towards one another. This theory served as the basis for formation of
cooperative learning strategies in the 1970's which has proved time and again to be the most effective tool for dismantling interpersonal barriers and catalyzing intergroup harmony in classrooms.
The
phrase "cooperative learning" was coined by Robert Slavin, a prominent researcher in intergroup relations, in 1980. It is a teaching strategy in which teachers divide their students into teams of six to
eight members. Each team comprises students of different levels of ability and of different ethnicities, who use a variety of learning activities to improve their understanding of a subject. Each member of a team
is responsible not only for carrying out their part of an assignment but in explaining what they did to the other teammates. The teacher is a facilitator, helping the teams assume responsibility for carrying
out their assigned activities, rather than an information provider. Cooperative learning techniques provide daily opportunities for children from diverse backgrounds to engage in meaningful interpersonal
interaction and require them to get to know one another as individuals.
Typical strategies that can be used with any subject, in almost any grade, and without a special curriculum, include:
Group Investigations. Students work to produce a group project, which they may have a hand in selecting, which is then presented to the class and evaluated based on its quality.
STAD (Student Teams-Achievement Divisions).
This method is used in grades 2-12. Students with varying academic abilities are assigned to 4- or 5-member teams in order to study what has been initially taught by the teacher and to help each reach his or her highest level of achievement. Students are then tested individually. Teams earn certificates or other recognition
based on the degree to which all team members have progressed over their past records.
Jigsaw I and II.
Both methods are used with narrative material in grades 3-12. The original Jigsaw method uses 6-member teams, each team member being responsible for learning a specific part of a topic. After meeting with members of other groups, who are "expert" in the same part, the "experts" return to their own groups and present their findings. Team members then are quizzed on all topics. Jigsaw II uses 4- and 5-member teams.
More than 70 major studies--by federally sponsored research centers, field-initiated investigations, and local districts examining their own practices--have demonstrated cooperative learning's
effectiveness on a range of outcomes:
the development and usage of critical thinking skills and teamwork;
the implementation of peer coaching/tutoring;
the establishment of environments where academic accomplishments are valued; and
the development of cooperatively-managed schools.
All of these significantly approaches catalyze positive intergroup relations in a natural unforced setting without requiring students to focus directly on intergroup relations as a focus of study or
exploration. This reflects Allport's original contact theory: students who cooperate with each other toward common goals will not only drop prejudices, but also like each other.
Cooperative learning benefits academic achievement in a variety of subjects among students of different ethnicities. For example, a study showed African American students improving significantly.
Latino students' academic improvement has also been proven by a study of the Jigsaw method.
Why hasn't cooperative learning become the standard method for instruction in our schools? It is for some
teachers in some schools, but it is not universal. The problem is the lack of commitment to change on behalf of the state university system, school districts, and individual schools. State
universities need to revamp their curriculum to train prospective teachers to use cooperative learning as their primary method of instruction, school districts, and individual schools need to give high priority to
training their instructors to implement cooperative learning techniques. Schools must rethink their grading systems, the way classes are organized, and how they evaluate teachers to incorporate the use of
cooperative learning as the primary mode of instruction. Mentor teachers need to understand cooperative learning models and the principles behind them to provide peer review and assistance.
Cooperative learning is likely to be hidden in the closet until the public becomes aware of the proven promise it offers to solve some of the most vexing issues facing the education of our children. In
the meantime multiethnic texts, multiracial advisory committees, conflict resolution/mediation, multicultural education, and diversity appreciation programs, which are all important in and of themselves, will be relied
on to improve intergroup relations. It should be remembered however, that research continues to show that cooperative learning is a definitive key for abating intergroup and interethnic tension. The problem
is not finding what to do; it is finding out how to implement it.
For more information on cooperative learning, contact: The Educational Information Resource Center (ERIC), 1-800-USE-ERIC; ERIC
Clearinghouse on Educational Management at the University of Oregon, (503) 346-5043; or Harold Himmelfarb at the US Department of Education, Office of Educational Research and Improvement (OERI), (202) 219-2031.
