ABSTRACT
In this chapter the following views are presented:
collaboration leads to deep thinking;
collaborative learning leads to independence of teacher and support teacher;
deep thinking motivates all learners including children;
the way that collaboration leads to deep thinking is through talk;
the link between thought and language is detailed in the theories of Vygotsky;
people feel supported in their learning through collaboration;
low self-esteem can be challenged through collaboration and those with low self-esteem can come to value themselves and their achievements;
the shared success that collaborating pairs experience helps to reduce the effects of negative attribution (those with low self-esteem attribute success to luck or chance or to their support teacher, and failure to themselves);
matching of task and child’s ability :is inappropriate because it does not allow children to operate in their ‘zone of proximal development’;
collaborative approaches to learning allow for a variety of structures and therefore help the teachers to pace their lessons.