Social Learning

If human learning happens by adapting and assimilating new data into mental constructs (Piaget's Constructivism), then social learning is the next step in creating opportunities to learn.  According to Beaumie Kim from the University of Georgia, social constructivism pushes the importance of people's culture and societal context in helping construct knowledge (2001). To capitalize on this, teachers should take advantage of strategies that incorporate this theory.  Enter cooperative learning.

In my own experience, I have used collaborative learning.  And though there is a fine line, the differences I could have made through working with cooperative learning may have solved some of my frustrations.  Cooperative learning, like collaborative learning, requires whole group assessment.  What sets cooperative learning apart is that each student in the group is still accountable for their own piece of the project.

The value that cooperative learning places on the individual and the group is notable.  Within collaborative learning, all that a teacher would look at is the group.  I believe this opens up the unfortunate possibility of one or two students completing all of the pieces of a project while the remaining members of the group ride the coattails of the motivated students.  The possibility of learning for all members of the group could be limited because not all are pushed to contribute.  According to Using Technology with Classroom Instruction that Work, the individual is every bit as important as the whole in cooperative learning.  Because each student in the group relies on the rest, a teacher can create a "sink or swim together" learning opportunity (Pitler, Hubbel, Kuhn & Malenoski, 2007).

Cooperative learning fits well within social learning theory.  As a group, students must rely on individual expertise of the group members.  Take the video project mentioned by Pitler et al.  Within a group of five, there may be a student who is a very capable writer.  There also may be a student with some tech knowledge.   Each student may have something they can bring to the group, but they have to be able to work together to make it happen.  Cooperative learning opens up opportunities for students to support each other and resolve problems.  Group members are creating opportunities to learn through their socializing.  Each group member brings to the table a set of beliefs and ideas, and through collaboration and cooperation, they are helping to shape the context for understanding.

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Voice Thread

In my classroom, I have been trying to create a learning opportunity that requires students to acknowledge that there is not always a clear answer.  My students are very argumentative (and what middle school student is not), but they do not always argue effectively and lack the understanding that there could be more than one perspective. 

A unit that I have taught in the past and will be teaching again in the next few weeks involves three different stories that take place during World War II.  Granted, one of the stories is a complete piece of fiction, but it is still a solid piece for getting students to recognize the varying perspectives of the time.  It is very easy for American children to vilify the Japanese people when discussing World War II.  That goes to the nature of people wanting clearly defined answers.  However, when we read the story of Yoko, a young Japanese girl living in Korea near the end of World War II, it makes you question your perspective on right and wrong.  Should all members of a group be held accountable for the actions of a few?

The ultimate goal is to create some sort of social justice project.  Each of the people that students meet during the course of our reading recognize some pretty major truths about the world.  Anne Frank's is belief is most likely the best known, that all people are basically good at heart.

Here is the link to my Voice Thread: Empathy, Understanding, and the World