Cooperative Learning: Building a Democratic Community

Abstract

ooperation is an important human accomplishment. People who are willing to come together and organize themselves in a group to accomplish a task are more likely to be successful in any effort, whether it is in business, sports, government, or school (Thomas 1957). Social scientists who have studied the subject of cooperation have found that several things happen when people work toward a common goal. They frequently, for example, express support for doing whatever helps the group to achieve its goals (Thomas 1957). Thomas found that, as groups work together, members actually assist one another with goals to the degree that the efforts of each member serve to move others toward their respective goals. In addition, Thomas noted that the cooperative group produces more and better ideas than do individuals working alone or competitively. In essence, cooperation reinforces the point that two (or more) heads are better than one. One area in which cooperation has typically not been of primary focus is the classroom. In many classrooms, in fact, students are in direct competition with each other and may view the idea of sharing or working in cooperation with each other as cheating. In a typical scenario, the teacher calls on a student to answer a question. If the student answers incorrectly, the teacher asks other class members to provide the answer. Another student gives the correct answer and, in so doing, will probably embarrass the student who answered incorrectly. The student who provided the correct answer, however, will experience elation that he or she has given the right answer and won the approval of the teacher. That student may also feel a sense of superiority in regard to the other student. That kind of competitive environment can discourage students in their academic efforts. The structure of the competitive classroom environment, however, changes tremendously when a teacher implements cooperative learning. In this article, I examine cooperative