Collaboration: a Model for Learning

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.