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Differentiating Among Pedagogical Terms
The education community there are numerous phrases in which variations of the words community, learn, and classroom are used in combination. It can create a sense of confusion in defining learning communities. In an overall review of the research on classrooms as learning communities, Watkins (2005) separates terms relating to learning and community into these three main concepts: classrooms as community, classrooms as communities of learners, and classrooms as learning communities.
The term "''classroom as community" is defined as the creation an overall sense of belongingness within the whole class group with diversity being valued. Students work together in both learning and class governance. Classroom as community refers more to the social arrangements, but it may well still be a teacher-centered environment when it comes to learning. The creation of this sense of unity and acceptance is, of course, important in any classroom. Through this process, students learn the social and group skills that will benefit them throughout life. Consequently, it is essential for teachers to set up this base of strong community cohesiveness in order to successfully move on to creating learning communities in the classroom.
The concept of "classrooms as communities of learners" moves beyond creating community to seeking personal engagement of learning through inquiry. Students are asked to generate questions on new topics thereby making the learning relevant. Their questions come from their own need to understand the subject matter. Students collaborate to create directions for research. Individuals are encouraged to reflect on their findings and then share their learning with supporting arguments. They are, in essence, helping one another grow through individual learning. This process can move from group discussion of possible direction to individual discovery to sharing without providing the opportunity for the group to work together on the individual pieces to polish and perfect the information for better understanding prior to combining these pieces into a whole.
In classrooms as learning communities, on the other hand, the goal is creating a body of knowledge with individual growth as an extension of this process. There is public reflection as a means of refining all learning. Watkins refers to this as "a community that learns about its own learning (58). Students negotiate meaning of all the incoming information as a group. This is the definition applied to the term "learning communities" in this course.
Scardamalia and Bereiter define learning communities as groups of students within the classroom who work together on a specific task to advance the collective knowledge of the group which, in turn, advances the growth of the individual's knowledge (as cited in Bielaczyc & Collins, 1999). There are numbers of ways in which these communities can work, but Bielaczyc and Collins believe these communities all share these four qualities:
1. A group whose members are diverse in expertise, valued for their contributions, and supported.
2. The members share the objective of advancing the knowledge and skill of the group.
3. Learning metacognitive strategies are the means by which members will advance and transfer learning
4. There are well-defined means by which the group will share learning.
There is another quality that is equally essential to all learning communities---the need for the learning to take place over an extended period of time. Common uses for groups in the classroom are small gatherings for one-time discussions or activities. These are not learning communities. They lack the time necessary for students to develop a sense of community and commitment. Participation and mutual construction of meaning take place over time (Stahl 1994). Stahl believes the students need to spend at least four weeks as a group to gain the most benefit from the learning community.
In combination, these qualities create the dynamics of the learning community. By carefully choosing group members based on their strengths and needs, each member brings different kinds and levels of knowledge, understandings, and skills. From the first group activity, students must use cognitive strategies to organize their knowledge and understandings and to assimilate the information from others. They will use social and communication skills for verbal interaction within the group. Thus, begins a process throughout which students will build a collective body of knowledge through investigation, testing, research, and negotiation. In order for this to work, teachers need to do two things. First, teachers ought to prepare learners beforehand by providing them with the appropriate communication and social skills that will create an accepting and supportive environment in which the more capable members help those who are less capable. Second, teachers must maintain a fine balance in availability. While they should be available to provide groups with guidance and direction, teachers must also provide ample opportunity for the group members to work through disagreements or ambiguities.
There are numbers of ways in which educators may successfully incorporate learning communities in the classroom. No one method is superior to others as long as the primary needs of learning communities are met. The next unit will present some of these strategies and programs.
Reflection
At this point, take some time to think about how each of the three terms apply to your classroom experiences both as a student and teacher. When has a class successfully achieved the bonding that comes from working toward classroom as community? What things happened to make this possible? What changes might have been made in classes in which this bonding did not occur? Have you experienced classrooms as communities of learners in which the group experience is evident but the product is individually owned pieces of a whole. Have you experienced classrooms as learning communities? Could some of your past learning/teaching experiences have benefited from creating learning communities? How? If you are working with others on this course, take some time to share your answers to these questions.
Learning Communities in the Classroom
Unit One - Foundations in Theory
Unit Three - Learning Communities in Action
