Supporting A Collaborative Classroom in the IB PYP
The very nature of the student led, inquiry based classroom is to amplify the children's voice and bring their thinking to light. As part of 21st century skills, we know that collaboration is a key player in this development of learning. There is no doubt that the process of learning through collaboration is the evolution of expanding understanding. It breaks away from that traditional " I" and "me" method of learning and brings forth the community mindset. We want to build up this sense of collective agency through our culture of community learning.
Why Collaborative Learning?
This form of learning enables a multitude of sub-skills and ALL of the IB PYP Approaches to Learning Skills. It brings meaningful experiences to learning and allows our students to work towards a higher level of thinking as they build upon each others' thoughts and ideas.
- Social skills: Becoming active participants of a social setting presents opportunities for the children to become more effective with attitudes that support negotiation, conflict resolution, problem solving and much more. They become more concerned members of their classroom.
- Communication skills: Interpersonal skills are amplified whenever you're working in a group; you need to discuss and share ideas. Having the confidence and knowing how to speak your mind is essential in collaborative work, together with recognising that we must listen to understand more than listen to simply respond.
- Thinking skills: The list of thinking skills is endless when it comes to collaborative thinking - children build upon each other's understanding. They learn through others' ideas and the mistakes of others too.
- Self Management Skills: Learning how to set and achieve larger group goals brings collective agency into the picture. The active social setting presents a myriad of situations that require management of self: think toelrance, spatial awareness, mindfulness, negotiation and so much more.
- Research Skills: Collective voice, shared responsibilities, delegation: it all brings the pieces together when the children are working together to present their wonder, find sources of information, analyse the data and share their findings.
There is so much more than this list of bullet points. If youre looking to bring explicit learning to the ATL Skills, you'll love these ATL task cards that I use with my students. It bring meaning to the skills and present situations that require thought, discussion and problem solving ALL through a collaborative practice. You can read more about ways to develop ATL Skills with these task cards here. [caption id="attachment_2582" align="aligncenter" width="300"]
Developing research skills using these task cards, really helped my kids to progress with their independence with research.[/caption] So, how did I develop this community mindset and embrace this amplification of learning experiences? Inquiry Based Maths projects, drama activities, ATL Skills task cards and Collaborative Posters! These were my brainchild with my little grade 3s many years ago and then I adapted them for my upper grades kiddos to integrate the skills far more explicitly. If you'd like to read more about drama, link to this article here.
Take a look at the Collaborative Learner Profile posters below.
You can find a set for little kids and a set for big kids.
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What Is A Collaborative Poster? These posters bring OWNERSHIP to the children's learning through their own VOICE & CHOICES. As the name implies, they require collaboration of minds to complete them with a common goal, in this case, of bringing the Learner Profile to life for their classroom. [caption id="attachment_4023" align="alignright" width="225"]
Create your own posters through group work.[/caption] The community building outcomes with these posters are many, including:
- Being part of creating classroom reference materials
- Empowering the children to contribute to the group through creative thinking
- Building community through communication and cooperation on a common goal
- Strengthening a sense of trust between each other [caption id="attachment_4022" align="alignnone" width="225"]
Bringing minds together to research each of these global characters who bring the Learner Profile to life[/caption]
AMPLIFIYING THE LEARNING with Collaboration
By working towards a shared objective, the children are putting the Approaches to Learning Skills into action, implicitly demonstrating their progress of those 21st century life skills and all whilst amplifying their learning together. Do take a look at some of the PYP teaching tools I have created that help to develop those community building skills necessary for effective collaboration. Click on the links below for a closer peek. 
- Collaborative Learner Profile Posters for Little Kids
- Communication Skills Task Cards for Little Kids
- Readers Theatre Drama Create Your Own Props Activities
- Approaches to Learning Skills Task Cards Bundle
- Collaborative Research Learner Profile Posters for Big Kids
- Inquiry Based Maths Project: Our School
- Inquiry Based Maths: Planning A Popcorn Party
- Inquiry Based Maths: Building A Global Village
- Inquiry Based Maths: Building A Time Travel Machine
As always, keep in touch! I'd love to see how you use any of these resources and of course, hear about your own ideas too. Enjoy!
P.S. If you're looking for additional support and coaching with student led inquiry, you'll love my online course Essentials for Inquiry: Getting Started with Student Led Inquiry. Click here to take a look.
