Teacher Implementation of Cooperative Learning in Indonesia: A Multiple Case Study

Abstract

The current study, a part of a bigger study, explored how teachers in Indonesia implemented cooperative learning (CL) in their distinct contexts. This multiple case study design used a qualitative interpretative approach. Following semi-structured interviews with 18 teachers who had attended CL professional development and used CL in their classrooms, four were purposefully selected as cases of teachers. Classroom observations, post classroom observation interviews, and field notes were employed to investigate the implementation of CL. The data were analysed using Miles, Huberman and Saldaña’s framework. Five themes were generated from cross-case analysis: implementation of CL principles, a lack of CL structures, a greater need of group orientation, group composition, and informal CL. The findings indicate that when an innovative pedagogical practice such as CL is implemented in a culture different from the one in which it was constructed, unique contexts both enable and disrupt the successful implementation of CL. This study proposes that further research attention must be given to understanding the challenges faced by teachers shifting away from direct teaching to student-centred pedagogies such as CL.