Cooperative work must be present in all educational centers, both in elementary school and in secondary school. What is sought with this methodology is to carry out group work so that students develop certain social skills and become aware of the importance of the individual effort of each of the group members to achieve the objectives proposed by the team.
There are many other advantages of applying cooperative work in the classroom. However, due to the demands of curricula and teaching units of rigidity, it is customary to leave this practice aside for lack of time. This limits the learning of young people, who see their education reduced to the assimilation of several theoretical ideas whose applicability is often unknown.
The Montessori method is the strategy that was most concerned with applying cooperative work in the classroom. And not as a complement, but as the "ideal" way to learn. At present, although there are many schools that use this method, the vast majority is aimed at children attending primary school, and Montessori did not have time to develop a method for older students.
The values transmitted in the cooperative work
Cooperative work is essential for students to acquire the values that will help them to have an enriching personal growth and development. In addition, this way of working will allow them to develop some skills that will be very useful in the future. Let's see, below, some of the values that students can acquire with this work methodology.
Individual and group responsibility. If a member of the group does not do his part of the project, in the end the team will not be able to reach the proposed goal. Therefore, cooperative work helps students to develop both their individual and group responsibility.
Humility. Cooperative work allows all members of a group to feel the same. Everyone will receive a part of the proposed task, but no one will be above the other. They are not competing with each other. We can think of a boat in which one of its members wants to row faster than the others. The boat may end up spinning if everyone does not row in a coordinated manner.
Assertiveness Carrying out a group project is very important to develop assertiveness. Knowing how to manage differences of opinion, saying "no" to a crazy idea and making each one of the members feel that their opinions are taken into account are important aspects. In addition, along with that value, respect can be developed.
"Union is strength ... when there is teamwork and collaboration, you can obtain wonderful results".
-Mattie Stepanek-
How to apply cooperative work in the classroom?
In order to be successful with cooperative work, teachers need to change the methodology that they have been implementing so far to work with students. This may seem very difficult at first, but it is quite simple if the necessary steps are well known. Let's see what they are.
Training of teams
A good choice of teams will ensure that the groups are balanced and that cooperation is appropriate. In order to do so, it is necessary to know how each student works individually.
Therefore, before taking the step of initiating cooperative work in the classroom, it is imperative that the teacher has a time to get to know each student, unless he has already worked with them in previous years.
In case another teacher, who gives a different subject, also wants to apply that methodology, it would be appropriate to converse with the one who already knows the students. Keep the same groups in different disciplines is suitable for teamwork to succeed. Otherwise, you can change the work dynamics.
Perform group dynamics
Before putting cooperative work into practice, it is important to do group dynamics. That is, small jobs or activities in which students have to work as a team. In this way, they will get used to cooperating and begin to develop group awareness.
The tutoring classes are an ideal time to do these dynamics. In addition, aspects related to motivation and commemorations can be worked on before reaching a goal, no matter how minor.
"A teacher who knows how to stimulate his students and gives each of them his confidence will obtain good results more easily than a cold, distant and more critical teacher, who does not know how to transmit a spirit of struggle and effort to the students . -Enrique Rojas-
The cooperation in the classes has a fundamental objective: to get the students to become more autonomous, but at the same time, they know if they help each other to achieve a common goal.
Cooperative work helps to learn more easily and develop the necessary skills for day to day. Therefore, paying attention to this way of working in the classroom, which can be applied in all disciplines, will help students not get bored and learn skills and strategies useful for life.
