🚀 go-pugleaf

I would take issue with the following recent comment about cooperative
learning.
"I  beg of everyone out there not to try to claim
that cooperative learning -- read that, "communal ignorance" -- is the
solution to the heterogeneous classroom:  only the hopelessly naive
don't know that CL in the *mixed classroom* is a way to get the brighter
kids either to tutor the weaker kids (no, I don't see that as beneficial
to the brighter child) or to do their work for them."
I don't think anyone would be foolish enough to suggest that is "the
solution" to heterogeneous classrooms but it is more than just a tutoring
situation.  In fact we have had peer tutoring in our school for a few
years now and the tutors frequently report benefits to themselves in that
they often learn the material much better because they have to explain it
to someone else.  As a teacher, I know that I understand my curriculum
material much better now that when I was in school - a combination of the
years of experience but also because I have to be able to explain the
material to others.  I see this as a definite plus for the stronger
students in cooperative learning situations - in fact, where I have peer
tutoring pairs in class, the tutor's grades often improve as much as the
student being tutored!


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* Nancy Kerr            * At the end of the game, both the king *
* Winnipeg MB Canada    * and the pawn go back in the same box. *
* nkerr@minet.gov.mb.ca *                                       *
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