Cooperation can be difficult. Students need to use a wide variety of skills to successfully cooperate. Unfortunately, many students lack many different cooperative skills, or even if they have these skills, they do not use them. Some of the students may have come from different educational settings in which learners are expected to sit quietly at their desks and listen to the teacher and take notes all day, only speaking when the teacher asks a direct question. This is why the CL principle of teaching cooperative skills is so important. For example, everyone knows how to do the cooperative skill of thanking others by saying “Thank you” or in other simple ways. However, so many times, people, even adults, do not thank others.

Other cooperative skills are not simple and must be learned and practiced. For example, facilitating groupwork involves many complicated cooperative skills, such as encouraging everyone in the group to participate, keeping the members on track so as to complete the items on the agenda, and summarizing what was discussed and what tasks each member needs to do next so as to achieve the group’s goals.

CL provides an excellent setting for students to learn and practice cooperative skills. What some teachers do is to focus on just one cooperative skill at a time. First, students need to understand the skill’s importance. Then, they must learn how to use the skill: what words to use and what non-verbal actions accompany the skill. Next, students may want to practice the designated cooperative skill, for example, by doing role plays. After that, students can attempt to use the skill in CL activities, and students and teachers can monitor the use of the skill. The data from this monitoring can inform student discussion of how well they used the skill and how their use might improve. Finally, the class needs to persevere in their use of that skill until they reach the point where it becomes a natural part of how they interact with others.

Reflective Break

Many cooperative skills exist. In your own life, outside of being a teacher, what is one cooperative skill on which you would like to improve?

Sample Response

I would like to praise others more, and when I praise others, I would like to give reasons for that praise. For example, if someone replies punctually to a message I send them via email, text, etc., I could say, “You are very good to reply punctually. Your quick reply helps me to plan what I will do next.”