Collaborative Learning

According to Douglas Fisher and Nancy Frey, there is a "gradual release of responsibility" that comes with teaching students and allowing them to collaborate with others. If we assume Vygotsky's position--that we all learn socially, from others--then we can utilize collaborative learning in our classrooms. However, in order to avoid the chaos that was Panama Canal: Part II, educators must be prepared to have portions of their lesson fall within this "structure" of successful instruction.

Although they are not to be considered as steps, there are four parts to this gradual release of responsibility: teacher-centered focus lessons, guided instruction where students follow a teacher model, collaborative learning where students work in pairs or groups to gain knowledge of content or a skill, and independent work where students complete individual assignments, such as homework.

These lessons do not have to follow a certain order. Instruction could, for example, begin with a collaborative bell ringer, move to a focus lesson on the content where the instructor briefly lectures, and then an independent assignment that students have to take home.

This variety of work can be extremely beneficial to students, especially those who need extensive scaffolding. It takes a lot of pressure off of teachers; they can spend more time preparing more meaningful lessons for students rather than strict bookwork or strict lectures.

I hope to use this in my future classrooms as well. However it requires significant planning. I would imagine that at the beginning of the year/semester, even teaching students about expectations during collaboration would require its own focus lesson and guided instruction. I have learned that teachers cannot expect that their students know any particular content or skill set, including appropriate group behavior. That being said, I think that a classroom that is formatted based on the gradual release of responsibility can be of great benefit to a group of students by preparing their minds for new skills and content.