How to teach Collaboration Skills in learners? - AminuwritesTv

How to teach Collaboration as a skill?

But,  What is Collaboration or Collaborative Skills?

Collaboration skills , also called collaborative skills, are the skills you use when working with others to produce or create something or achieve a common goal. Collaboration skills aren't a skill set in themselves, but rather a group of different soft skills and behaviours that facilitate collaboration and teamwork.

Collaboration is one of the chief skills or competencies that every Ghanaian child should posses after completing the Standard Based Curriculum.

Collaboration is also a 21st Century Skills which every Child or Adult must possess.

There are several ways we can teach Collaboration Skills among our learners. Below are just few steps you can take to build Collaboration Skills among learners.

Give Group Exercise/Assignments
1. Always Give Group Exercise or Assignment.
Encourage your learners to always work in groups. Every exercise or assignment you give to learners should be carried out in groups.
Ensure that every learner participates in the Exercise or Assignment.

Group Engineered Assignments
2. Give Assignment or Exercise that forces Group Activities.
Also, give learners exercises or assignment that might force them to include every member of the group when carrying out the assignment.
Our questions be crafted in such a way that it makes it difficult for a learner to work alone.
Our questions should be capable of ensuring that every member of the class gets something to do.
For instance instead of asking learners to answer questions which only focuses or Understanding, we may craft our questions to test the application of knowledge.

For example in the questions below...

1. What is energy?
2. Give two examples of energy forms.

We can easily rewrite the questions to encourage every learner in the class to participate.

So in the above example the questions may be reframed in the following manner.

1. Describe how energy is important in carrying out work.
2. How will you describe the different forms of energy to your friend.

Accept Collaborative Answers
3. Always Accept Answers or Assignments from learners who worked collaboratedly.
In class, any questions or assignment you give, ensure that all learners participate in arriving at the answers.

Why Should You Teach Collaborative Skills?
Every Ghanaian child is expected to learn and practice Collaborative Skills.

The world today  basically operates on Collaboration.

No country or nation can exist independently without the support of others. Even the most advanced countries collaborate with other countries in one form or the other. 

Teaching Collaboration Skills is a unique opportunity to provide learners with one of the most important and a necessary skills for human existence.

Also, when Collaboration Skills is developed among learners then we stand the chance of developing other important Soft Skills such as

1. Communication Skills
2. Leadership Skills
3. Team work Skills
4. Conflict Resolution Skills
5. Flexibility/Adaptability Skills
6. Problem Solving Skills
7. Negotiation Skills
8. Networking Skills
9. Stress Management Skills
10. Creativity & Innovative Skills
11. Time Management Skills
12. Decision Making Skills
13. Influencing/Persuasion Skills