Posts Tagged Collaboration and Learning

Focus on Collaboration to Help Students Succeed

On November 28, 2019 / Learning

Collaboration is the key to lifelong success. In fact, if we want our children to succeed in school and later in life, we need to shift our mindset in how we educate them.

Knowing this, here’s an important message for both parents and teachers: Just taking in information is not learning. Retention requires review, reflection, and (with a skill) practice. Force-feeding students more and more information at younger and younger ages is not the answer. Rather, we need to focus on understanding, mastery, and most important, collaboration.

Why is Collaboration so Important for Learning?

Outside of schooling, the importance of teamwork is absolute because people work collaboratively.

It is ironic that in schools the emphasis is on performance of the … >>>

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Student Awards and Rewards: What Works and What Doesn’t

On March 8, 2018 / Effectiveness, Learning

I often say that doling out student awards and rewards is counterproductive. However, I must also say that I don’t condemn ALL student awards and rewards. Allow me to explain.

As a former instructional coordinator, I have come to the conclusion that awards ceremonies are counterproductive for LEARNING—especially when so many young people never find themselves in the winner’s circle and would therefore prefer to drop out rather than compete.

When it comes to learning, collaboration is much more effective. When people collaborate, they do not compete.

However, as a former high school athletic coordinator, I do believe in award ceremonies for athletics and other competitive activities such as spelling bees, high school band competitions, and academic decathlons THAT ARE … >>>

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Collaboration Increases Learning

On January 28, 2016 / Learning

Anyone who reads this blog or has read any of my books knows that I advocate collaboration–rather than competition—to increase student learning. A prime reason is that the number of winners in competition is severely restricted, usually to one. This means that competition produces more losers than winners.

A major advancement in learning would be to desist from the nearly imperceptible yet continual demoralization of K-12 students by fostering competition between students as a way to increase learning. (As I also often note, competition is a marvelous motivator to increase performance but is devastating to young people who feel that they never stand in the winner’s circle.) This very significant yet unintended consequence of academic competition contributes to the reduction … >>>

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Using Perks as Motivators

On March 31, 2015 / Learning

Is there an appropriate time to use a “perk” as a motivator?

Certainly! But realize that the underlying drive is often not the perk but the competition. Just look at the Olympic Games. Competition and recognition are basic to humankind.

In my own case, I play the classic music of the Great Highland Bagpipe called piobaireachd (pronounced pibroch). Approximately eight percent of pipers play this type of music, and this traditional music never would have been passed on to today without competitions. The token ribbons won were nice, but it was the competitive spirit that had me devote hundreds of hours to practicing.

The mistake erupts when, by implication, we use rewards to promote learning. If a youngster is never … >>>

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Learning and Collaboration

On July 10, 2013 / Learning

One day a salesman driving on a two-lane country road got stuck in the ditch. He asked a farmer for help. The farmer hitched up Elmo, the blind mule, to the salesman’s car. The farmer grabbed a switch, snapped it in the air, and yelled, “Go, Sam, go!” Nothing happened. He snapped it again. “Go, Jackson, go!” Still nothing. Then he flicked Elmo. “Go, Elmo, go!” And Elmo pulled the car out of the ditch.

“Hey, what’s with the ‘Sam’ and the ‘Jackson’?” asked the driver.

“Look, if he didn’t think he had any help, he wouldn’t even try!”

We all need help, and this is one reason that collaboration is far more effective in promoting learning than competition. Competition … >>>

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Collaboration Improves Quality of Learning

On March 10, 2013 / Articles

Collaboration Improves Quality of Learning.

Collaboration is a much more effective approach to improve and enhance learning. Collaboration structures student interaction for maximum participation.

ASKING vs. POSING

The traditional approach to involve students is to ask them a question. Students then compete for the teacher’s attention by raising their hands. Using this approach, the only winner becomes the student the teacher calls upon. In a primary class, one can see the hands dropping and hear the sounds of disappointment from those who were not called upon.

Instead of this approach of students’ competing for the teacher’s attention by the teacher’s asking a question, a more effective approach is to pose the question. Posing—in contrast to asking—infers open-endedness, invites students to … >>>

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