I discovered today how wonderful it is to see a child’s fragile self-esteem raised through another child’s approval and inclusion. We were working on a task, a target, a topic and yet these 2 small learners were on a whole other learning journey entirely. Regardless of the task, the outcome of working together is that children are able to appreciate one another’s strengths and weaknesses. What they choose to do to support those strengths and weaknesses is a whole other ball game!
Imagine my delight then when I was able to watch a less-than-confident child choosing to ‘instruct’ another, very capable child during maths. What was incredible to see was the way they negotiated their place in the pecking order, realised that they were both different yet equal as learners and moved into the task. The fascinating thing in this is that they were working on the iPad and the child with less confidence in maths was the one with tons of confidence in how to use the iPad and solve the maths problems while the other child was able to instruct him on how to problem-solve the maths part!
Amazing how they worked together because the talking was rich, kind, encouraging and the learning was the same. I was privileged to see how children support and care for one another as learners when simply given the opportunity to do so. Joy!
This article was originally posted at http://elearningr14.blogspot.com/2011/03/collaborating.html