Summary
Reading the section entitled “Training For Cooperation” many noteworthy ideas were addressed preparing children to work cooperatively with one another. Often times in school one of the major challenges in getting children to work cooperatively with one another is to get them to realize the importance of working with others who are not their close friends. One way to achieve teach children the importance of working with others outside their social network is explain to them that everyday professionals in the real world work cooperatively with others who they may not know very well or whom they are not compatible. When preparing children for cooperative group work it is essential to identify “the skills and norms that will be needed for the group work setting you have in mind”. In appendix A of this text there are many useful skill building activities that educators can use to increase students ability to learn the necessary skills and norms to achieve a given task. The activities contained in this appendix A should be viewed “as just a vehicle for new skills and norms,” to be acquired for future classroom activities,”and not an end in themselves.” When students are able to reflect on group work experiences that are meaningful they are more likely to understand and take with them the skills necessary to work with individuals who are or who are not their friends in the future.
In special education what this means
As a special educator one of the major challenges I will face in my clinical practice is to encourage children to work cooperatively with one another, especially those individuals who are not friends. The children I am primarily working with children diagnosed with autism. Many of these children appear to struggle with working in social settings and often times become very combative with adults and other children if they get too close to them. In order to teach my students the necessary skills and norms to perform group work it is important that I adapt the activities in appendix A in a manner that is specific to the needs presented in their individualized education plan (IEP).
What challenges will it pose me as a special educator?
As an educator I discovered that many of these students exhibit rule-violating behavior as a result of their fear s. Oftentimes, students reported that they feel frightened or intimidated when they are in large social settings. Many of them appear to have difficulty understanding the support and comfort that can be provided by talking with others - which may explain why many of them will choose to violate rules or suddenly lash out at adults and/or other children. As a result of this, encouraging my students to work collaboratively in groups may be challenging.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
So, I don't disagree that discussing the importance of building god group skills for the future is both important and potentially motivational. But adolescents (and most adults) are truly motivated by the now. Posing an intellectual challenge that requires the contributions of many is the most powerful motivator, because the motivation is intrinsic.
ReplyDeleteAs a special educator, you know that socialization is one of the key things you focus on with your students. Your teaching will become much more nuanced than many of ours, recognizing smaller achievements and fine-tuning strategies beyond what most of us as teachers will know to do. That is cool, especially when you will get to share these with regular ed teachers in inclusive classrooms.
I don't think achieving collaboration is that challenging, unless you are asking them to do it for you. When you are able to pose a problem, or a task, that intrinsically motivates kids to pursue a solution/seek to resolve, and that resolution is dependant upon the contributions and/or participation of others, your "challenges" disappear, or at least diminish.