Recognition for Excellence Handbook - Cooperation

 

cooperation logoCooperation Overview

Many falsely believe that the United States was built on competition. From coast to coast, graveyards are filled with tombstones from the early settlers who tried to go it alone and failed. American history has many examples of people working together cooperatively to establish our country. Examples include beginning colonies, wagon train pioneers, the Underground Railroad, the Cooperative Extension Service, total quality circles, and today’s community coalitions that are reclaiming their neighborhoods from crime.

Cooperation is also highly valued in other cultures. From the kibbutz in Israel to the Mixtecans of Mexico, cooperation is prized and competition is mostly avoided. Cultures in which competition is virtually unknown include the North American Zuni and Iroquois and the Bathonga in South Africa.

From its early beginnings, 4-H has encouraged young people to work together to learn. Today, cooperation is receiving added emphasis as an appropriate teaching method to help young people develop life skills for today’s society.

Goal Structures

Public and private school educators have been advocating cooperative learning as a viable concept to enhance classroom instruction. To accomplish learning goals, a teacher organizes or structures learning experiences to achieve desired goals, i.e. they develop a goal structure. Teachers can structure their classroom in three ways:

  • cooperatively,
  • competitively,
  • individualistically

David W. Johnson and Roger T. Johnson in their book, Learning Together and Alone (1994), identified cooperation as the appropriate goal structure for most instructional situations. They emphasize that the greatest need is for learners to be able to learn in a carefully planned cooperative goal structure that becomes the essential framework on which competitive and individualized learning is added.

They emphasized that successful learning experiences are first based on cooperation and only then competition may be introduced. Learning to work together, getting to know each other, sharing in successes, and developing collaborative skills are essential for ensuring that competition will produce positive results. Johnson and Johnson used 80 of their own research studies as well as data from 150 other research studies as a base for their highly regarded work.

Cooperative, competitive, and individualistic approaches to learning are appropriate depending upon the specific goals and objectives. Johnson and Johnson said, “We aren’t against competition (although the literature and research on competition are damaging to its reputation). We are against inappropriate competition…” To add, “inappropriate competition does not increase motivation – it skills it.” They support the idea that achievement is the product of many people working together regardless of how much it appears to be a singular effort. They also said, “The research clearly demonstrated that cooperation is more facilitative of motivated effort and achievement than is competition.”

Summary

Studies of nearly 200 youth, aged 8-10, concluded that, “Enhancement of self at the expense of others is learned in competitive environments; enhancement of self and others is learned in cooperative environments; and enhancement of self with neither enhancement nor abuse of others is learned in an individualistic learning environment. (Bryant)

In a summary of nearly 40 of Johnson and Johnson’s studies, it was fount that students in cooperative classrooms liked each other better; socialized during free time; had a higher regard for the school, subject matter studied, and teachers; and had more confidence in themselves (Kohn, ).

Sufficient evidence is available to identify the following conclusions for 4-H.

  • The three goal structures, cooperative, competitive, and individualistic, offer a range of appropriate strategies for 4-H learning experiences.
  • Learning experiences should first use cooperative goal structures before introducing competitive and individualistic learning activities.

Questions to Think About

  1.  What is the ration of cooperative, competitive, and individual learning experiences
    in 4-H?
  2.   How do you recognize excellence for learning cooperatively?
  3. What needs to be done to increase the use of cooperation in 4-H?

solutions for your life