““Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.””
““If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.””
““Many ideas grow better when transplanted into another mind than the one where they sprang up.””
““None of us is as smart as all of us.””
““Talent wins games, but teamwork and intelligence win championships.””
““Collaboration allows us to know more than we are capable of knowing by ourselves.””
Forbes Magazine lists ‘Collaboration’ in their Top 5 Power Skills Employers Are Looking for in 2023. We want our learners to be successful after they leave our school systems; therefore, we need to figure out how to teach them how to collaborate.
Every educator should be teaching collaboration in their classrooms. In this blog, I will emphasize the paramount importance of collaboration within Project-Based Learning (PBL), suggesting that to initiate and sustain a PBL Movement, creating a culture of collaboration is not just beneficial, it's essential. The quotes above from Helen Keller or Michael Jordan reinforce the idea that our collective reach is extended when we work together - both adults and kids.
There is a difference between collaboration and splitting up tasks. Splitting up tasks can get things done efficiently, but collaboration creates an end product that is better than anything we would have created on our own.
When your classroom partners with local nonprofits in a PBL unit to create websites, learners can divide up tasks or they collaborate. When your learners divide up the tasks, they will be efficient, and they will complete the work. When you ask them how the other’s in their group did, they will say, “Great! We finished on time!” Then you may ask about the quality of the other group member’s work, and your eager learner will say, “Oh! I don’t know anything about their section. I focused on my part.” I have inadvertently taught collaboration incorrectly this way. Have you? No shame, but there is a better way!
If you take the same website creation PBL unit and add true collaboration, you can help your learners create a higher quality end product instead of just getting it done. In this true version of collaboration, you can have your learners perform a tuning protocol to give feedback on the work of their group members. The tuning protocol will add an additional 30 minutes to your unit schedule, but you will end up with learners who have received feedback and improved the quality of their work. They didn’t just ‘get stuff done’, but they completed work with higher quality than if they had done it on their own.
The type of collaboration industry partners like Forbes are talking about is about partnership, shared responsibility, and cultivating a productive learning environment. By dissecting the website experience, we can reveal that when students work in silos, the final product suffers, but when they truly collaborate, the results are exponentially better.
Magnify Learning workshops use the Compass Points activity to teach workshop participants collaboration. Compass Points is a protocol designed to enhance the way teams collaborate by understanding personal and group dynamics. Collaboration does not come naturally, so we need to teach collaboration to both adults and kids. Understanding personal and group dynamics is crucial for you to instill collaboration as a foundational skill early in your learners' educational journeys. In this blog, I hope I have to convinced you that every educator can teach skills like collaboration and that collaboration is not only relevant in the classroom but is also critical for future employability and success in various aspects of life.
Fostering a collaborative culture in your classroom is an ongoing process that requires intentional planning and execution. I encourage you to prioritize collaboration from the outset and to use tools and activities that help students recognize the strengths and working styles of themselves and their peers. My argument is that by embedding collaboration into the fabric of the learning experience, you can pave the way for a future where collective achievement is the norm rather than the exception.
As a PBL Movement Maker, when you are teaching your learners how to truly collaborate, you are empowering the next generation to find solutions that are not just efficient, but solutions that are better for everyone.
To teach collaboration, you need to be able to experience collaboration. Join me and other Movement Makers like you in the PBL Movement Online Community to collaborate and create better outcomes for you, your classroom, and your learners.
I’m Ryan Steuer – author and thought leader who specializes in Project Based Learning training, coaching, community, and content to help educational leaders fulfill their vision of deeper learning in their schools. I’ve worked with leaders in school districts of all sizes, from 400 students to 100,000 students. These visionary leaders care about their students, but they are often stressed, overworked, and overwhelmed with the work ahead of them. That’s where I come in! I help leaders achieve their PBL vision, lead their staff, AND stop working weekends.
When I’m not guiding school leaders through Project Based Learning mindset shifts, I am outdoors with my wife and 5 kids - canoeing, hiking, biking, and traveling the US in our RV.
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