A Critical Reflection of Collaborative Inquiry: To what extent is collaborative learning beneficial in my classroom?

Abstract

Twenty years ago, I was a Grade 6 student in a Grade 6/7 classroom. I remember learning material through direct teacher instruction. The structure was quite clear-cut; the teacher transmitted information and the students listened and absorbed the material. Tests were distributed, graded, and then new content would be introduced. Students were seated in rows, sometimes according to alphabetical order, which inhibited peer intermingling and interaction. This type of traditional teaching still exists in many classrooms despite educational advances that highlight the importance of collaborative student-centred learning rather than a teacher-centred classroom. I strongly maintain that “a major value of collaboration, the reason why it is so praised in our rhetoric, is that we can do more and better work collaboratively than we can alone” (Johnston-Parsons, M., 2010, p. 289). Student centred learning may be referred to as learning that “has student responsibility and activity at its heart, in contrast to the stronger emphasis on teacher-control and the coverage of academic content” found in much traditional teaching classrooms (Cannon, R., Ingleton, C., Kiley, M., & Rogers, T., 2000, pg.3). I further extend this definition and place emphasis on student centred learning as a classroom in which students play an active role in their learning, as oppose to a passive role in a teacher-centered learning environment.