The Perception of Linguistic Performance among Primary School Students when Collaborative Learning

Abstract

The framework document Good School Performance (Koncepcija 2015), regulating the curriculum of Lithuanian schools, states that school curriculum should engage, motivate, be wide in scope, as well as exhaustive and challenging, and encourage problem solving; it should develop competences necessary for modern life; enable learning through research, experiments, discovery and invention, creation, communication, and collaboration. Self-identification as a member of a group/class is a fundamental value that enables quality learning and socially responsible activities. Students demonstrate a positive learning approach if they feel they belong to the class/school environment and identify themselves as its full-fledged members. The sense of belonging to an educational group/community is of great importance. It is when students feel as outsiders that complications arise. The failure to identify with the community leads to learning difficulties, subject irrelevance and therefore goals that are not only beyond reach but also goals that student are not willing to pursue. This article discusses how Lithuanian primary school students perceive collaborative learning, which integrates the development of language skills.