Cooperative learning in practice

Cooperative learning is a teaching/learning method based on group activities and structured according to precise principles, which has proven to be hugely successful both in promoting school learning and the development of civil society skills, and in stimulating different types of intelligence and different learning styles. It therefore represents a highly appropriate solution to the necessity to encourage integral personal development, highlighted by national curricular guidelines, and to create an inclusive environment, as required by ministerial directives regarding pupils with Special Educational Needs. This is because it is based on the principle that each member of the group, with his or her unique and special characteristics, can contribute to the learning of all and that everyone can become a resource for the others.
Putting cooperative learning into practice is not however something that can be improvised. Thanks to her longstanding experience as a teacher trainer in hundreds of Italian schools, in this book the author provides accurate, instantly applicable guidelines for:
• planning cooperative learning activities
• making groups for cooperative activities
• teaching and developing social skills
• encouraging a cooperative atmosphere in class
• introducing simple and complex cooperative activities
• evaluating cooperative groups
in primary and lower secondary school classes. The book comes complete with a substantial appendix with ready-to-use worksheets.