Page 25 - CBSE Cover Jan-March 2014_16-07-2014 FINAL

A New Perspective in Schools K. Uma * In a traditional classroom, teachers used to give information. Tere was only a one-way communication. Teachers dominated the class room and pupils were listeners. Now the time has changed. Teachers and students work together and they share the knowledge. Students have become learners instead of listeners. Now, there exists a two-way communication called collaborative learning. In collaborative learning teachers value and build upon the knowledge, personal experiences, language, strategies and culture that students bring to the learning situation. Collaborative learning: • It develops inter-personal skills and intra-personal skills among students. • Active participation of every student. • Develops team spirit. • Each and every student is assigned one role in the team. • An attitude where every child’s contribution is considered to be valuable. • Each and every student feels that their role is important in the team. • As they work in groups they work with interest and learn to resolve the conficts. • Diverse views are encouraged and valuable contributions are made by every learner. • Diferent views and interpretations and discussions take place. It enhances the knowledge. • Knowledge sharing takes place. • Ability to work with all types of people. • Individual diferences are accommodated. • It develops individual as well team responsibility. • Assimilate multiple views to deepen knowledge and promote critical thinking. • Foster individual accountability to the team • Develops independent learning strategies • Reduces the learner isolation Challenges • Noisy class rooms. • Reluctance on the part of the teachers to give freedom to students in goal setting and exploring new concepts. • Tendency to divide the teams based on the intelligence level of the students, which actually should be heterogeneous. In order to create an environment in which cooperative learning can take place the following points must be taken into consideration. First, students need to feel safe, but also challenged. Secondly, groups need to be small enough that everyone can contribute. Tird, the task students’ work together on must be clearly defned. Fourth, the team must often be changed and new teams to be formed. Tis helps in sharing the knowledge with diferent members. * Principal, Maharishi Vidya Mandir, Polachery, Chennai, Tamil Nadu January-March 2014 23