How could collaborative learning potentially impact on primary education?

How could collaborative learning potentially impact on primary education?

Throughout this post I am going to explore how collaboration can have numerous impacts within the primary classroom. To being, collaboration can be defined as “the situation of two or more people working together to create or achieve the same thing.” (Cambridge Dictionary, 2017) This is the views of what the Cambridge dictionary believe collaboration is, working with each other in order to reach a certain outcome or goal. It could be argued that many classrooms have experienced minimal collaborative learning experiences due to the current curriculum however, I am going to discuss how this is possibly changing and how it will potentially impact on primary education. Furthermore, Dillenbourg et al. 1996; Kirschner et al. 2009a, states that collaboration is defined as “the active engagement and interaction among group members to achieve a common goal.” Both of these definitions link together with the ideologies that collaboration is a group of people, with common goals or outcomes.

Firstly, there are many positive aspects which support collaborative learning within the education system. One main point is that collaborative learning is thought to encourage active engagement and interaction, this could be great for the primary classroom due to a more enriched experience for all students meaning that current, relevant and educational conversations could potentially occur within the classroom involving students rather than a traditional didactic teaching approach. Barnes expresses that “learning to communicate is at the heart of education,” (Barnes, 1976, p.73) this suggests that collaborative learning is a key element in education, due to Barnes’ ideologies. This is due to encouraging students to communicate and interact with fellow pupils and their teachers, which could potentially create enriched educational conversations within the classroom. Furthermore, Lloyd & Beard suggest that “talk is vitally important to learning, it is the tool which we use to interpret, communicate, work through and make sense of our experiences.” (Lloyd & Beard, 1995) This is an important point which links in with the importance of collaborative learning, due to Lloyd & Beard suggesting that being able to effectively communicate with peers could enhance and enrich their learning experiences. Additionally, I believe it is essential we communicate in order to grasp new educational concepts. Subsequently, Klemperer argues that “collaboration is not simply students talking to each other,” this is interesting as collaboration does have more elements than just talking as Klemperer states, it is also liked in with improving social skills and team working skills.

In addition, social interaction is thought to be linked with collaborative learning and Vygotsky suggested that “social interaction was at the core of the development process.” (Vygotsky, 1978) This is a key point within this post, as we can see collaborative learning has more than one element to it. It has several important aspects which all link together which can create fulfilling education experiences, which will benefit students in a variety of different ways. Vygotsky is examining the social interaction aspect, and suggesting that if students can socially construct knowledge by interacting with each other than they could potentially have a greater spectrum of knowledge working as a team rather than individually. Furthermore, Bennett and Dunne state that “Individualisation based on the notion of the child as a ‘lone scientist’, needs balancing with a pedagogy which allows the child to take on the role of a ‘social being’, in a move from individualistic to co-operative classroom endeavours.” (Bennett and Dunne, 1992, p.17) This indicates that collaboration is key and certainly needs to be incorporated within schools, in the thoughts of Bennett and Dunne. Additionally, due to the forever changing role of the teacher means that they no longer need to communicate in one way like previously, they should incorporate various pedagogical approaches within the classroom.

Furthermore, team work can also be associated with collaborative learning and many academics believe that team work is an important aspect in education. Kutnick & Thomas found that “pupils working in pairs performed significantly better than those working individually and dyads (pairs) improved upon initial performance no matter whether they are placed in equal and unequal matched pairings,” (Kutnik & Thomas, 1990, p.399) this particular point expresses the importance of team work in the academic’s beliefs as it states pupils work benefitted significantly from working as part of a team. Subsequently, Cane disagrees with that statement and argues that modern school children are practically forced to communicate with each other and teachers. Whilst some may benefit, she believes that certain children are introverted meaning they do not learn best this way due to their shy nature. Cane states that “introverts bring extraordinary talents and abilities to the world, and they should be encouraged to celebrate,” (Cane, 2017) this statement clearly disagrees with the fact collaborative learning is essential for the growth of the individual’s education experience. This is expressing that everyone is different and learn in different ways due to their personalities and nature, additionally meaning that collaborative learning does not enhance every student’s learning.


To conclude, we can see that collaborative learning overall can have a positive impact on primary education due to elements which are within it. Collaborative learning can potentially improve student’s engagement, social interaction and team work, I believe it certainly be incorporated in the primary education setting. The idea of collaborative learning in the classroom Is surely a beneficial one if it helps to improve these aspects within students, as these are key life skills they will need in the future. However, there are always going to be negative aspects of collaborative learning like Cane expressed however, collaborative learning does need to be factored into the classroom environment as well as other learning methods in order to accommodate all students, and enable them to thrive and become the best they can be. 

Reference List

Barnes, D. (1976) From Communication to curriculum. Harmondsworth: Penguin.

Bennett, N. & Dunne, E. (1992). Managing Groups. Hemel Hempstead: Simon & Schuster Education.

Cambridge University Press (2017) Collaboration Meaning in the Cambridge English Dictionary. Available at: https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english/collaboration (Accessed: 9th November 2017).

Cane, S (no date) The power of introverts. Available at: https://ed.ted.com/lessons/susan-cain-the-power-of-introverts (Accessed: 9th November 2017).

Dillenbourg, P. (1999). Collaborative learning: Cognitive and Computational approaches: Advances in Learning and Instruction. Pergamon: London.

Kutnick, P. and Thomas, M. (1990) ‘Dyadic pairings for the enhancement of cognitive development in the school curriculum’. British Educational Research Journal. 16(4).

Lloyd, C., & Beard, J. (1995). Managing classroom collaboration. (Cassell Practical Handbooks). London: Cassell.

Vygotsky, L. (1978). Mind in Society. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.