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COOPERATIVE LEARNING COMMUNICATION SKILLS |
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Lecture | Questioning/Discussion | Team Teaching | Thematic Teaching | Integrated Curriculum | Cooperative Learning An extremely important skill for working effectively in cooperative learning situations is communication, and rather than teaching these skills, teachers often times simply expect that their students have them; an example is listening. People at all levels of ability and educational background are poor listeners. Just because a person has the ability to hear, we believe that the person can listen. Such may or may not be the case. In education, the skill of listening is seldom taught, but it is the most advanced of the language arts. This piece of the cooperative learning module focuses at the communication skills people need to have in order to interact collaboratively and be effective in any cooperative learning activity. Indeed, they are skills that people should have to be able to interact successfully in any life situation. The skills are "listening" (of course), "being responsible," "consensus building," and "conflict resolution." Each skill is explained briefly below. Also, selecting a skill (by clicking on it) will open a window with more detailed information about that skill. There is a difference between hearing and listening. People may be able to hear, but they need to practice and acquire skills to be good listeners. Hearing is the act of acquiring sound through the ear; if you are not hearing impaired, "hearing," simply happens. Listening, on the other hand, is something we consciously choose to do. Listening requires concentration and focus so that the brain can process and make meaning of the information that is "heard." Click on "listening" (above) for more informaiton. No one is born acting responsibly, but we all expect people (especially our students) to be responsible ... for their learning, for their behavior, for the choices they make. A responsible character is developed over time. Responsible people act the way they do regardless of who is watching. They understand that it's right and they have the courage and self-control to behave the way they are expected to behave even when tempted to do otherwise. There are several dimensions to "being" responsible. To view these dimensions click above on "being responsible." When working in a group it is important that whenever decisions are made, everyone in the group agrees with and can accept the decision. For this to happen everyone in the group must feel that they have had a role in the group decision-making process so that their opinion was heard. In order to do this successfully, though, it is important to be open to compromise ... that's what consensus building is about ... reaching a compromise. A good definition of consensus is general agreement arrived at by all concerned. For guidelines and procedures that lead to compromise and building consensus, click on "consensus building." In any group situation, conflicts occur. Conflict resolution is the process of constructively mediating opposite points of view so that people can work together to reach a mutually acceptable compromise. The goal of conflict resolution is to get all persons in a group to work interact as harmoniously as possible so that the work gets done, despite disagreements that may occur. To resolve conflict, it is imperative that all individuals in the group have good communication skills. These communication skills can be found by clicking on "conflict resolution" (above). Additional
information about communication skills can be found at: |
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