Task 4

What do you know about teachers’ roles in cooperative learning and why should we become aware of these roles?

Teachers when structuring cooperative groups, act as observers of how each group and each member is functioning. They offer support when needed and facilitate the process by explaining the task and intervening to solve the group conflicts. Cooperative groups promote a different way in which students interact with each other. This two-way communication involves discussion and working together to accomplish shared goals.

Placing students in cooperative groups does not mean that teachers will have a break of some free time; instead, teachers engage in an observation process to check which groups are facing troubles in completing the task and intervene to offer help. The teacher may also intervene when noticing a conflict or an inappropriate behaviour within the group. Finally