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Co-operative learning in the classroom
This year's North Lanarkshire parents' conference - 'Co-operative learning in the classroom' - was held at the Strathclyde Hilton on Saturday, 18 March.
Councillor Charles Gray, the Education Committee Convener, opened the conference and welcomed parents. He noted that we had now been running highly successful parent conferences for 10 years now. The 2006 conference, he added, was an opportunity for parents to hear about and take part in co-operative learning, a major educational initiative currently being developed in North Lanarkshire schools.
Jane Liddell, head of service for quality and support, emphasised the importance the authority has given co-operative learning. Already, North Lanarkshire has almost 2000 teachers and education staff trained in its use. This is understandably having a huge impact on teaching and learning in our schools. Additionally, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Education have recognised the strength of co-operative learning during school inspections and are very interested in its future development.
The success of the co-operative learning approach can also be measured by the fact that other authorities - Angus, Argyll and Bute, Clackmannanshire and Fife - have invited North Lanarkshire to help them develop the initiative.
Jane introduced Chris Ward, the keynote speaker and facilitator for the day. Chris, who is superintendent in Durham District, Toronto, Canada, is a recognised international trainer in co-operative learning. She has promoted it not only across her native Canada but also in Australia, Estonia, Germany, Mexico, Portugal, Trinidad and Tobago and the USA. Presently, she is on a two-year secondment to create a centre of excellence in co-operative learning here in North Lanarkshire.
Chris noted that the Scottish Executive's curriculum for excellence requires us to make our children successful learners, confident individuals, effective contributors and responsible citizens. Co-operative learning she argued is now delivering in all four of these areas in our schools.
The conference included a series of interactive workshops that covered the following areas:
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the implementation of co-operative learning across the secondary school
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co-operative learning in a primary school setting
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co-operative learning in special education schools
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using co-operative learning to develop social skills in the primary sector
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using co-operative learning for the transition from primary to secondary
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using the co-operative learning format to structure school board and PTA meetings co-operatively.
Probably the highlight of the day was when pupils from St Andrew's primary school in Airdrie and Coatbridge high school shared their experiences of co-operative learning with the audience. The young people ably demonstrated all those skills that co-operative learning claims to develop and enhance.
Chris used the conference to give everyone a taster of the three-day training academy that North Lanarkshire teachers attend. And, like our teachers, parents left this year's conference very enthusiastic about the potential of co-operative learning.
"Most careers do not expect people to sit in rows and compete with colleagues without interacting with them. Teamwork, communication, effective co-ordination and division of labour characterise most real-life settings".
"It is time for our schools to more realistically reflect the reality of adult life. The most logical way to ensure that students master the co-operative skills required in most task-orientated situations is to structure the majority of academic learning situations co-operatively".
'Roger and David Johnson, co-directors, the co-operative learning centre,
University of Minnesota'
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