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Learning Communities: Foundations in Theory
An appreciation for learning communities can be gained by looking at how presently accepted theories of learning and intelligences support the idea of using sustained small group learning in the classroom. Key components of the leading theories overlap in areas of particular importance. These include a need for community belonging and acceptance, social interaction, collective knowledge building, and relevant context and activities in which the individual strengths of learners are shared in order for all group members to learn. The framework of learning communities creates an environment in which all these needs may be met.
In Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs theory (Figure 1), the prerequisite of feeling accepted, respected and valued by others, is essential in order for an individual to be motivated to reach his/her full potential - " to become everything that one is capable of being" (Maslow, 1943). A teachers' first goal in instituting learning communities is to teach the social and communication skills that will generate a sense of community through respect and tolerance for all students in the group.
Figure 1 - Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs
It is within this accepting community that learners engage in social interaction recognized as crucial in many learning theories including Vygotsky, Piaget, Bandura, Lave, and Wenger. This social interaction provides opportunities to improve metacognitive, communication, and social skills. The collaboration among group members is a cycle that begins with each learner mentally organizing past learning in order to articulate starting data for the group. Members are continually reflecting and interpreting the shared information both mentally and verbally until the group reaches a negotiated meaning (Doherty and Hilberg, 2006). A study by Robyn Gillies (2006) found that when students work together, they develop an understanding of their responsibility to help one another, sometimes being more aware than teachers when group members do not understand something and are able to provide more readily understood explanations.
The diversity of preexisting knowledge within a learning community also provides a rich base from which members can begin building knowledge. According to cognitivist learning theories, students must scaffold new learning. This construction is best accommodated by the sharing of multiple perspectives and negotiating meaning through authentic activities with others (Altun & Büyükduman, 2007). The grouping of students within learning communities considers ability levels, intelligences, gender, and cultures in order to create the diversity that will give each member new perspectives, understandings, and attitudes.
Educators also take into account Gardner's theory of intelligences, when composing groups and activities for learning communities. Opportunities to use intelligences other than the verbal and linguistic ones generally favored in traditional classrooms can provide students who have previously struggled in school opportunities to shine, thus raising their self-esteem (Hopper & Hurry). More importantly, one study by Cèsar and Santos (2006) found that other members of the group learn to appreciate and value these students whom they might otherwise have rejected and carry that change of attitude to future classes as well.The metacognitive, social, and communication skills practiced in learning communities not only facilitate educational growth, but also introduce skills that are becoming more and more important in the workplace (Bielaczyc & Collins).
Reflection
Considering Maslow's hierarchy of needs, how to you try to ensure students feel accepted, respected, and valued by others in the class? What kinds of activities do you use to create a cohesive community of belonging in your classroom? What are things that you take into consideration when composing groups for class work? How might you use levels of strength in the various intelligences to best advantage in the classroom? If you are working with a group, spend some time sharing your responses to these questions.
Learning Communities in the Classroom
Unit Two - Defining Learning Community
Unit Three - Learning Communities in Action
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