Most learners see schools as competitive because that is how marks are assigned. In order to achieve at the highest level, learners compete with each other and attempt to out-do the others. When schools are not competitive, they are mostly individualistic, i.e. learners are urged to work independently toward the attainment of their own individual goals, without help from peers or adults. Only rarely are school experiences truly cooperative, where learners work together in a group small enough that everyone can participate on a collective task that has been clearly assigned ...[and where] students are expected to carry out their task without direct and immediate supervision of the teacher.

Another difference among these three alternatives relates to rewards. In a cooperative learning situation (also termed collaborative learning), the individual is given a share of the reward in relation to other members in the group. In a competitive learning situation, the winning individual is rewarded well, whilst others receive little or nothing. In an individualistic learning situation, there is no relationship among individual rewards.

Occasionally, some schools present a few activities that are cooperative. Only rarely do schools and teachers make cooperative learning a fundamental part of their instruction. However cooperative and group learning are important methods for effective educating. Cooperative learning combines the cognitive and affective aspects of learning, and it emphasizes participation and active engagement. It also stresses academic achievement and clearly defined curricular goals.

Cooperative learning makes up the basis of Vygotsky’s theory. It is a set of instructional strategies in which learners work in small groups to help each other learn. Unlike traditional teaching approaches, cooperative learning is often more rewarding for learners, if it is designed to ensure that all group members have achieved the intended lesson outcomes. The role of the educator shifts from one who presents information to one who facilitates learning in an environment that encourages learners to take responsibility for their own learning. However, some educators might think that this is an easy way to teach – this is not so, it requires careful planning, and the educator moving between groups to ensure that learners are on task, and understand the activities.

A cooperative group refers to a heterogenous group of learners with varying (different / mixed) abilities working together to solve problems to complete a project. Cooperative groups are structured to encourage learners to help and support their peers in the group rather than compete with each other. Opportunities present themselves for a more competent learner to assist a learner who is academically less able. The classroom is transformed into a community of learners engaged in tasks which facilitate the development all aspects of communication (reading, writing, talking and listening).

The following key components of successful group work in the classroom can be identified:

• Specific strategies for classroom organization, including how to form and manage groups.
• Specific kinds of task structure to maximise each individual’s participation and learning.
• A social component that involves the overt teaching of collaborative skills and language.
• An emphasis on the value of groupwork and oral language in the classroom to foster the development of higher-level thinking skills.

Learner interaction in the cooperative classroom

Learners who are learning a second language must be provided with opportunities for frequent and extended interactions in the target language. They need to interact with others in performing meaningful tasks that require the use of the target language. Small group activities dramatically increase the amount of talking time available to each learner and make it necessary for everyone to participate. Furthermore, because cooperative groupwork fosters purposeful, task-oriented communication, the quality of the talk is greatly improved. All learners benefit from increased opportunities for peer-group interaction on learning tasks. The more opportunities learners have for talk, practice or experience, the better they retain new information and ideas.

Cooperative learning and the communicative approach

Rather than learning about the second language, learners learn how to communicate effectively in it. The focus is on the communicative functions of language: how to use it to carry out specific functions, such as apologising, informing, agreeing or disagreeing, and persuading. Co-operative group skills include specific Communicative acts such as seeking clarification, arguing a point of view and expressing agreement and disagreement.

Language through content

Language is best learned in a context where it is used to learn about something else. Language learners need a topic to talk, read and write about, and they benefit from dealing with content that is intrinsically important and from involvement in intellectually engaging tasks that develop academic skills. Cooperative learning activities provide an excellent environment for acquiring language by dealing with relevant content and developing academic skills and knowledge through carefully structured classroom interactions. Cooperative small-group instruction provides the kind of structured, organized opportunities that encourage exploratory talk among non-judgmental peers. (As we use co-operative group instruction more and more, learners will learn to be non-judgmental, through our constant guidance. It will not be a skill that learners already have. It will need to be fostered and taught.) Co-operative small-groups are a forum for restating, rehearsing and internalising new ideas and concepts.

How does cooperative learning benefit the teacher?

Cooperative classroom settings not only improve the learning environment for learners, but also improve the teaching environment for teachers. A teacher does not have to bear the pressure of knowing everything and doing everything.

Cooperative learning allows the teacher opportunities of learning more about learners’ interests and needs, their ability to form social and inter-personal relations, and the attitudes they have toward each other. This information can be useful for the teacher in terms of structuring the groups and ensuring that learners don’t form set sub-groups. The teacher can collect information on learners through daily observations, the use of questionnaires, through conversations with learners, and through the use of simple diagrams of group interactions. This information benefits the teachers planning for teaching and learning. It also stimulates and promotes the teacher’s professional development and growth.

Cooperative group work reduces the amount of time teachers need for keeping learners focused on learning tasks. Given that cooperative learning enhances learners’ social and cognitive skills, a teacher plays less of a directive role. The teacher can spend more time activating learners’ prior knowledge about the content being learnt and help learners make connections between the content or text being studied and their own experiences.

Cooperative classroom settings also allow for the teacher to cater for learners’ individual needs. How to meet each learner’s needs in an overcrowded classroom has been a key concern of teachers. In planning a variety of activities at different levels and a range of interactions that develop cooperative groups, teaching and learning becomes more interesting and challenging for the teacher. In cooperative learning, the teacher provides learners with choices and a means to match their interests and developmental levels. In this way, the teacher’s goal of serving all learners becomes manageable and attainable.