C is for craze. C is for cooperate. C is for control. C is for conflict. C is for capacity. C is for constructed. C is for complicated. C is for conceptual learning. C is for collaboration… in fact the 3rd C of the 21st Century Skills.
As our graduates enter the workforce it has become increasingly obvious there is a need to teach students skills that will better prepare them to lead and innovate. There is not one educator I know that would disagree with the importance of collaboration in the classroom-for the sake of learning and for future endeavors. However, there is also not one educator I know who would say this is easy. As a PBL teacher I struggled with getting my students to collaborate and as a School Development Coach I see the same strife in most classrooms I walk into-”divide and conquer” tactics are often taken, students only cover a small amount of content related to their topic but don’t know much about their group members content, the student who is perceived to be “smart” takes the lead, or the student who is consumed by their grades fears relinquishing work to their peers. As a result of these challenges I set out about a year ago to demystify collaboration in the classroom. I’m still on the journey, but here are some important stops along the way…