Developing Classroom Management Skills in the

Cooperative Language Learning Classroom

IATEFL 2011 CONFERENCE

Sally Ali, Ph.D.E-mail: sally.ali@uaeu.ac.ae

AGENDA

• WARM-UP QUESTIONS• COOPERATIVE LANGUAGE LEARNING• DEFINITIONS• PROBLEMS• CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT• ACTIVITIES• CONCLUSION

WARM-UP QUESTIONS

THINK ABOUT THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

• What are the advantages of having cooperative and collaborative learning?

• What is the worst thing that can happen?• What is the goal of classroom

management?

• Cooperate: The willingness to cooperate and be helpful to achieve a result that is good for both or all.• Collaborate: "To work jointly with

others in an intellectual endeavor; to cooperate with or willingly assist" (Bassano & Christison, 1995).

DEFINITIONS

• Cooperative learning exists when students work together to accomplish shared learning goals (Johnson & Johnson, 1999). • Each student can then achieve his or her

learning goal if and only if the other group members achieve theirs (Deutsch, 1962).

Overview:

• Many teachers use cooperative learning in so many different ways. Johnson & Johnson & Stanne (2000) refer to ten that have received the most attention (see Table 1):

Researcher-Developer Date Method

Johnson & Johnson Mid 1960s Learning Together & Alone

DeVries & Edwards Early 1970s Teams-Games-Tournaments

(TGT)

Sharan & Sharan Mid 1970s Group Investigation

Johnson & Johnson Mid 1970s Constructive Controversy

Aronson & Associates Late 1970s Jigsaw Procedure

Slavin & Associates Late 1970s Student Teams Achievement

Divisions (STAD)

Cohen Early 1980s Complex Instruction

Slavin & Associates Early 1980s Team Accelerated Instruction

(TAI)

Kagan Mid 1980s Cooperative Learning Structures

Stevens, Slavin, & Associates Late 1980s Cooperative Integrated Reading

& Composition (CIRC)

• Cooperation and collaboration occur with activities, by building community and raising the students' self-esteem. • Students do not always cooperate in

cooperative activities no matter who they are and no matter what the teacher's plans are.• All teachers have their own strategy and

method of teaching depending on who their students are, their language, and cultural background.

Problems:• Students are too shy.

• Others are too bossy.

• Others refuse to work with certain students, or refuse to work at all!

THE ADVANTAGES OF HAVING COOPERATIVE AND

COLLABORATIVELANGUAGE LEARNING

• There is physical movement, so the students cannot fall asleep or be bored.• It encourages information gathering.• There is problem solving.• It releases pressure and increases

activity.• It is fun, social, interesting, friendly,

and less intimidating.

Basic Principles (PIES):

According to Kagan (1997), there are 4 Basic Principles of Cooperative Learning. The following are those Principles:

I. Positive Interdependence:

Positive Interdependence occurs when gains of individuals or teams are positively correlated, i.e. when a gain for one student is associated with gains for other students, then the individuals are positively interdependent. The success of a team is not possible without success or contribution of each member.

II. Individual Accountability:

Students can be made individually accountable by having each student

receive a grade on his/her portion of the team essay or project; or by having

each student responsible for a unique portion of a team learning material,

presentation, or product.

III. Equal Participation:

Equal participation may be created by:

1.Turn allocation2.Division of labor where students

are expected to participate.

IV. Simultaneous Interaction:

Cooperative learning involves simultaneous interaction among students, i.e. students get more time to participate.

The Goal of Classroom Management

Management is not an end , but a means to set the proper environment for learning (Kagan, 1994). The following are some goals:

• Frees the teacher to teach & gets the students to learn.

• Helps students learn to manage themselves.• Helps students to take responsibility for their

own learning.

CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

• Giving group directions or instructing students to do tasks involves a different set of complex management skills than merely telling students to open their books. • The cooperative classroom better

supports the needs of our students and involves the idea that learning takes place through doing and interacting.

• There are a number of management techniques which are essential in the cooperative language learning classroom and these differ from the traditional classrooms (Kagan, 1994):

The Quiet Signal:

Teachers spend a lot of time trying to get students quiet in the classroom. The quiet signal is very quick because the teacher merely raises his/her hand, students learn to do the same, and then all give their full attention to the teacher.

1.Hand up, stop talking, stop doing,2.Signal others3.Look4.Listen

Establishing Class Rules:

• Rules should be positive • Realistic• Using simple wording• Limited to max 5

Seating Arrangements:

• Students should be arranged in a way which makes them see the teacher & the Board easily (See different arrangements).• Try to arrange seats before the

lesson starts.

Giving Good Directions to Students:

• This is an art(Verbal & written), bit by bit, not all at once, modeling, checking for understanding after giving directions.

Positive Attention:

It is very important to provide class-group based positive attention:

If students in groups are not working well, the teacher could find a group that is and use that group as a model so others begin to model themselves after that group.

Teacher’s Role:

Observe, monitor, and circulate students’ progress

i.e. role of: consultant & observer, not evaluator or director.

The learning responsibility remains with the students.

Team Questions:

• Students should first try to get their questions answered by the group then if no-one knows they consult other teams then the teacher.

Simultaneous Management:

• Distributing the material quickly & getting students to be more active

Recognition Systems: The Teacher :• Walks around while groups are working• Makes positive comments or stops &

indicates one team’s great work.

• By developing classroom management skills in a cooperative language learning classroom,

students have more time to use the language, support each other, and feel at ease.

• They can even test their spoken English and generate ideas that the teacher may not think

of. • The teacher becomes the resource or

facilitator and is given an opportunity to go around and assess the students' progress.

CONCLUSION

Bassano, Shamon & Christison, Mary Ann. Community Spirit. Alta Book Center, 1995.

Deutsch, M. (1962). Cooperation and trust: Some theoretical notes. In M. R. Jones (Ed.), Nebraska symposium on motivation, 275-319. Lincoln, NE: University of Nebraska Press.

Johnson, D., Johnson, R. (1999). Learning together and alone: cooperative, competitive, and individualistic learning.Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Johnson, D.D., R.T. Johnson, & E.J. Holubec. Cooperation in the Classroom. Edina, MN: Interaction Book Company, 1988.

Johnson, D.W.,Johnson R.T. & Stanne, M.B.Cooperative learning Methods: A Meta-Analysis, 2000.

Kagan, S. 1994 &1997 “Cooperative Learning” , Kagan Cooperative Learning San Clemente, CA.

Thaine, Craig 2010 “Teacher Training Essentials”, Cambridge Press.

REFERENCES