Creating a Culture of Collaboration
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This resource supports educators in creating a culture in their classroom that intentionally fosters learners’ development of collaboration skills. It includes examples of practices, strategies, and pedagogical approaches that allow this competency to flourish in a classroom.
- Create the conditions that will foster a supportive community of learners.
- Co-construct the language of effective collaboration and develop group norms.
- Model and share explicit language and strategies to demonstrate respect and to help learners invite diverse voices to collaborative discussions.
- Construct learning experiences where learners practise taking the perspectives of others and empathizing with them.
- Provide learning opportunities where learners are encouraged to change their minds based on others’ ideas and/or work to build consensus (when necessary).
- Model language and thinking processes that push thinking deeper, encourage openness to new ideas, and recognize the nuances in collaboration.
- Discuss the processes involved in conflict resolution so that learners are able to self-assess the specifics of their interactions when conflict arises and to adjust as needed.
- Establish routines that allow learners to offer constructive and respectful peer feedback.
- Support learners in co-constructing a learning plan and success criteria with their group members so that each learner is integral to the group’s goal.
- Capitalize on organic opportunities for collaboration in the classroom so they are not always constructed.
