First Things First
Both cooperation and collaboration are important skills, but it’s important to recognize that they are not the same thing. I think of cooperation as breaking a big task into smaller pieces that can be assigned to different team members. Cooperation often results in increased efficiency: think assembly lines. Sure one person could build a car all by him/herself, but by breaking the steps into discrete tasks and assigning those to different people, cars can be built much more quickly. However, in both cases, the end result is a car.
Collaboration, on the other hand, may be messier and more time consuming than cooperation. Its goal isn’t increased efficiency--it’s improved results. Collaborative efforts produce results that one person by him/herself couldn’t produce alone. Collaboration is value added--it’s not about efficiency, it’s about the quality of the end product.
Another way to think about the difference: Groups cooperate and coordinate; teams collaborate! This excerpt from 10 Ways to Teach Innovation found on the Mindshift blog captures the difference nicely:
Form teams, not groups. Innovation now emerges from teams and networks—and we can teach students to work collectively and become better collective thinkers. Group work is common, but team work is rare. Some tips: Use specific methods to form teams; assess teamwork and work ethic; facilitate high quality interaction through protocols and critique; teach the cycle of revision; and expect students to reflect critically on both ongoing work and final products.
Check It Out
Read the description and review the grade-level checklist for this skill at the Future Ready Skill website.Learn More About It
Read these four short articles about collaboration:
- Collaboration vs.Cooperation: There Is a Difference (HuffPost)
- Deeper Learning: A Collaborative Classroom is Key (Edutopia)
- Setting Up Effective Group Work (Edutopia)
- 5 Strategies to Deepen Student Collaboration (Edutopia)
Post your response to the prompt below and earn 2 clock hours each month that you do. Be sure to include your first name and first initial of your last name with your school's initials to make it easier to track your participation (e.g. Toni S. LWES)
Part A: Think about what working with others currently looks like in your classroom. In what ways does it reflect true collaboration? How would you like students to grow?
Part B: Which ideas or strategies from this week’s reading list can help you enhance or improve students’ collaborative abilities? How do you plan to use them?
