Hi! We are Group 5 of Section Galilei from Malayan Colleges Mindanao. Our study is about the struggles of teachers in handling collaborative learning.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION

According to Mathew L. Ouellett, collaborative learning can occur peer-to-peer or in larger groups. Peer learning, or peer instruction, is a type of collaborative learning that involves students working in pairs or small groups to discuss concepts or find solutions to problems. In addition, “Collaborative learning” is an umbrella term for a variety of educational approaches involving joint intellectual effort by students, or students and teachers together (Smith&Macgregor, 1992). 

Existing teacher collaboration research focuses on collaboration practices in an effort to improve student achievement. Goddard and Goddard (2010) stated that teachers are professionals and possess unique knowledge about their students and how they learn. When effective collaboration occurs, teachers’ knowledge and experience are diffused and instruction is enhanced. Teachers with various levels of experience that collectively 4 focus on improving student learning are most effective in increasing student achievement (Williams, 2010). Collaborative learning helps people to fill in as a group for a typical reason or mission. Today, people are working for a certain mission or group works by utilizing computers, internet and such technologies. A great deal of concentrates had been finished with utilizing Collaborative learning (Keser&Ozdamli, 2012). The blended collaborative learning and teaching approach is fast getting increasingly well known in advanced education, and its effects on students' and instructors' involvements are yet to be completely investigated. 

Although encouraged in schools’ improvement plans, teacher collaboration is not usually monitored or investigated (Goddard & Goddard, 2007). Some collaborative practices are unstructured and inconsistent. This leads to struggles of teachers that collaboration is unvalued or not obligated (Sawyer and Rimm-Kaufman, 2007). Professional development is usually only offered as a quick-fixed approach to the goals of the school improvement plan, causing a decline in the sustainability of teacher collaborative opportunities. Collaborative groups are composed of diverse personalities and unique belief systems, and this makeup of individuals can create unproductive collaboration experiences (Williams, 2010). Hargreaves and Dawe (1989) mentioned three adverse components of a collaborative culture which are fragmented individualism , which is a form of teacher isolation, balkanization, which consists of groups operating as separate entities, and contrived collegiality which is the dissemination of preoccupied and unwanted participants of the group.

As a 21st century education support system to DepED's K12 Curriculum and STEM Track, the 21st Century Learning Environment will serve as a venue that will create learning practices, human support and physical environment to facilitate the development of the 21st century skills of both teachers and learners in these four common cores: Communication, Collaboration, Critical Thinking, and Creativity. 

A classroom setup is equipped with facility designed for mobility and connectivity to promote collaborative teaching and learning with education and information and communication technologies to support student-centered active learning. In the 21st century classroom, teachers are facilitators of student learning and creators of productive learning environments, in which students can develop the skills they need at present and the future. Teachers alongside students will also be equipped with necessary skills to meet the challenges of a more engaging and effective modern teaching (De Guzman, 2018).

Here in Malayan Colleges Mindanao, collaborative learning is part of their learning curriculum. This type of learning method is applied to the learning environment of the students, which they call blended learning. Collaborative learning in Malayan Colleges Mindanao allows both teachers and students to further expound their ideas and enhance their performance in school. It also allows students to broaden their understanding in certain tasks and issues provided by the teacher. Thus, it benefits teachers more towards their teaching style because of higher participation of students in activities and task

Based from the situations shown, there are observable gaps: the hardship of students’ collaborative learning to the teachers in a classroom setting.

Teachers are the ones who plan for activities, lessons, and discussions that would cater collaborative learning and to be able to deliver the topics with alignment to the k-12 curriculum and to be able to provide the learning competency given. Thus, students work hand in hand with peers in an attempt of learning together or doing activities and tasks in groups. Collaborative learning may not be fully implemented without the assistance of the teacher as the facilitator of learning process. Aside from the students who claims to have difficulties every time there are group works because of dealing with peers who are free riders and passive, teachers are also the ones who struggle in providing group works to provide collaborative learning. And because of that, we want to know the side of the teachers towards collaborative learning, what are their lived experiences and their struggles, and the common significant encounters in terms of implementing collaborative learning. In other words, we want to hear the sides of the teachers behind all the effort they put into for the success of collaborative learning.

These gaps will represent the origins of this study. From there, the initial investigation as what where will this research take us in terms of the struggles of teachers in collaborative learning of students.

Purpose of the Study

This research aims to examine the know the hardships by students’ collaborative activities to the teachers. Furthermore, this will examine the side of teachers in handling collaborative learning that enhances drills, practices skills, and improves critical thinking skills of the students and how student collaboration can be a struggle for them. In Malayan Colleges Mindanao, this learning type is applied in the learning systems of the school and students’ collaborative orientation complements participation and helps students to compete, which in turn, increases their performance. With the said learning type, this study will explore collaboration of activities between students and various levels of this behavior that may results to the hardships of teachers in their learning and professional development towards collaborative activities.

To thoroughly examine the collaborative learning in the said institution, the researchers will be conducting a qualitative data type of research. This type of research will help us assess and study the struggles of teachers towards students’ collaborative activities. Teachers from Malayan Colleges Mindanao will be the participants of our study and their response will be evaluated before and after the interview by providing them questionnaire about collaborative learning. 

As a qualitative data type of research, the participants are expected to know that their struggles towards students’ collaborative aligns to their teaching methods in class. Another goal that the participants are expected to have is for them to know their different hardships towards collaborative learning on students matter.

Research Questions

This study is conducted in order to give information to everybody.

Specifically, the study required to answers to the following questions:

1. What are the lived experiences of teachers in dealing collaborative activities?

2. What are the challenges or struggles in terms of implementing collaborative activities?

Theoretical Framework

The theories presented will help the researchers to justify, examine, and analyze the collected data and will present the explanation in line with collaborative learning. The study will use different theories namely the Collaborative Learning Model, Lev Vygotsky and Social Learning Theories, and Cooperative and Collaborative Theory.

There are several collaborative models among which education organizations may choose this model is called theCollaborative Model. Whatever collaborative model is used, school leaders must established a comprehensive collaborative plan—ideally, in cooperation with the teachers—that aligns with the culture of the school and the needs of the teachers and students. McCarthy,Brennan, and Vecchiarello (2011) suggested these steps for fostering a collaborative relationship: defining roles and responsibilities; establishing a shared vision; establishing a collaborative strategic plan; assess and adjust the plan. collaborative learning facilitates intrinsic learning from its participants (Williams, 2010). Brodesky, Gross, Tigueand and Palmer’s (2007) collaborative model for teachers fostered problem-solving through: deepening the understanding of both content and students; aligning strategies with students’ needs and content goals; implementing strategies with students and then reflect on their effectiveness; Collaborating and planning lesson and assessments. 

Assisting teachers in understanding and implementing action research is important when establishing effective collaborative models (Williams, 2010). The professional learning communities model creates a model for professional development (Hord, 2004). Hord (2004) argued that professional learning communities can be understood through exploring the meaning of each word: professional is the training, knowledge, and experience that each teacher contributes; learning is the ongoing inquiry pertaining to student learning; communities are the collection of shared work and effort toward a common goal. Johnson and Johnson (2009) concluded that social interdependence promotes the following behaviors: positive goal interdependence enhances achievement productivity; positive goal and incentive interdependence; resource inter-dependence; Intrinsic motivation to achieve reward or avoid loss of reward produces greater achievement efforts; facilitates development of various perspectives and creative reasoning; Increased complexity of procedures, requires more effort and involvement from the group members; members define themselves in terms of group membership and contribute more towards the common good; and The stronger the interdependence, the greater the perception of collegially of the group. They contended that positive interdependence promotes individual and personal responsibility and promotes interaction.

Positive Social Interdependence is a collaborative model designed to promote higher achievement and greater productivity (Johnson and Johnson, 2009). Johnson and Johnson (2009) described five variables that are essential elements of effective cooperation: positive interdependence, individual accountability, promotive interaction, appropriate use of social skills, and group processing.

In collaborative model, it explains that it has steps for fostering a collaborative relationship, facilitates intrinsic learning from its participants, and it foster problem-solving. It also assists teachers in understanding and implementing action research, and lastly, collaborative model brings positive interdependence promotes individual and personal responsibility and promotes interaction. This model will help the participants to know the positive effects of collaborative learning and how it helps the teachers in making all the students work and learn altogether.

Second, this study will make use of the Lev Vygotsky Social learning theories help us to understand how people learn in social contexts (learn from each other) and informs us on how we, as teachers, construct active learning communities.  Lev Vygotsky (1962), a Russian teacher and psychologist, first stated that we learn through our interactions and communications with others.  Vygotsky (1962) examined how our social environments influence the learning process.  He suggested that learning takes place through the interactions students have with their peers, teachers, and other experts.  Consequently, teachers can create a learning environment that maximizes the learner's ability to interact with each other through discussion, collaboration, and feedback.  Moreover, Vygotsky (1962) argues that culture is the primary determining factor for knowledge construction.  We learn through this cultural lens by interacting with others and following the rules, skills, and abilities shaped by our culture. 

Vygotsky argued, "that language is the main tool that promotes thinking, develops reasoning, and supports cultural activities like reading and writing" (Vygotsky 1978). As a result, instructional strategies that promote literacy across the curriculum play a significant role in knowledge construction as well as the combination of whole class leadership, individual and group coaching, and independent learning.  Moreover, teachers need to provide the opportunity to students for a managed discussion about their learning.  Discussion that has a purpose with substantive comments that build off each other and there is a meaningful exchange between students that results in questions that promote deeper understanding.  Discussion-based classroom using socratic dialogue where the instructor manages the discourse can lead each student to feel like their contributions are valued resulting in increased student motivation.  

The teacher, or local topic expert, plays the important role of facilitator, creating the environment where directed and guided interactions can occur.  Many other educational theorists adopted Vygotsky's social process ideas and proposed strategies that foster deeper knowledge construction, facilitate socratic student discussions, and build active learning communities through small group based instruction.

In essence, Vygotsky recognizes that learning always occurs and cannot be separated from a social context. Consequently, instructional strategies that promote the distribution of expert knowledge where students collaboratively work together to conduct research, share their results, and perform or produce a final project, help to create a collaborative community of learners. Knowledge construction occurs within Vygotsky's (1962) social context that involves student-student and expert-student collaboration on real world problems or tasks that build on each person's language, skills, and experience shaped by each individual's culture" (Vygotsky, 1978, p. 102).

The Lev Vygotsky Social learning Theory explains that language is the main tool that promotes thinking, develops reasoning, and supports cultural activities like reading and writing.Lastly, It also concludes the different instructions that support social learning, this theory presented by Vygotsky, will guide the researchers in identifying the different types of group work based strategies.

         Lastly, according to Christopher Pappas, Allport, Watson, Shaw, and Mead were the social theorists that established cooperative learning prior to WWII, suggesting that group work is more effective and efficient, than working alone. However, it was 1937 when researchers Mark Arthur May and Leonard William Doob collected all the principles behind the Cooperative and Collaborative Learning Theory.

Cooperative and Collaborative Learning is a learning situation that involves two or more individuals who are attempting to have a shared educational experience. In these environments, students are able to learn from each other, utilize each other's skill sets and resources, and share experiences that may benefit the entire group. As a theory, it suggests that learners who are educated in a group setting and cooperate in order to achieve a set of common goals are more likely to be successful in doing so, while those who work autonomously are more likely to exhibit competitive behaviors.

Cooperative and Collaborative Learning benefits not only the academic, but also the learner’s social persona, since it emphasizes on teamwork and team spirit. In a classroom this means higher levels of achievement, potential cross-ethnic friendships, life-long interaction, enhanced communication and cognitive skills, and critical thinking.

Importance of the Study

         This study aims to evaluate and discover the hardships of teachers towards students’ collaborative activities. With the results of this study, the following respondents will benefit:

   The Students.  Having a collaborative learning will help them to learn various skills and lessons and to engage themselves in learning and working together. According to Penn State University (2017), cooperative learning helps to produce higher achievement, greater retention and intrinsic motivation, more positive relationships, and greater social support. In that way, it helps students to raise their achievements in school and value their experiences they learned. In addition, Nuiteq (2017) said that learners with different backgrounds or racein collaborative learning can gain developing social skills to work together. It also helps students to learn from peers and build trust because, generally, people have different skills, passions, and knowledge, but in the process of working together, they will learn to trust each other to reach their common goal. Overall, the benefits of collaborative learning for students are massive (Hutt, M., 2017).

   The Teachers.  Understanding and applying the fundamentals of collaborative learning helps them to teach more effectively to the students. As mentioned by Brookes (2016) that collaborative learning improves their teaching and yields a better instruction that allows students to increase their efforts. In that way, students’ academic performance enhances as teachers developed core competencies with the use of collaborative learning. Moreover, it expands teaching toolkit which gives access to more resources and promotes the use of recommended instructional practices for the teachers. Collaborative learning helps teachers to be consistent in their lessons and produces more inclusive methods that focuses on teaching different learning styles for the students. With that being said, it promotes higher responsibility for the teachers because it helps them to develop a greater sense of accountability for promoting success to the students.

The Future Researchers. This is study aims to help and support studies related to the research we have conducted. This will also serve as a reference for the future researchers for them to have a guide and to have more concrete information for their study. Moreover, we seek to provide an example of a qualitative research about collaborative learning that will help future studies to have a definite and relevant research.

Limitations of the Study

This study aims to give descriptive proof on teacher's hardships in providing collaborative activities for students inside the classroom. The information gathered and analyzed relates just to the chosen school and cannot provide conclusions on other schools, however ideally readers of the study might most likely judge the materialness of the discoveries to their own circumstances.
Definition of Terms

In order to give clarity to this study, we will define the key terms which are found repeatedly in this study.  The said terms are the following:

Collaborative learning. is an educational approach to teaching and learning that involves groups of students working together to solve a problem, complete a task, or create a product.

Hardships.severely suffering or deprivation.

Facilitating. to make something possible or easier.

Teacher. a person who teaches, especially in school.

Organization of the Study

This section discusses the description of each chapter, focusing on its basic parts and the characterization of each part. This study is composed of five chapters, namely: the introduction, review of related literature, methodology, findings and conclusions.

Chapter 1 (Introduction) includes the discussion about the study’s background of the study, purpose, research questions, theoretical framework, importance of the study, limitations of the study, definition of terms and organization of the study. The background of the study will discuss the statement The background study will provide context to the research problem identified and articulated in this study, which will be given direction using the next section, the purpose of the study.  The context given and the direction set will be supported by existing theories, stated in the theoretical framework.  Apart from the context, the first chapter will also feature the study’s stakeholders, as seen in the importance of the study.  The limitations of the study will follow as well as the definition of terms.  Finally, the organization of the study will feature a breakdown of every chapter in this study.

       Chapter 2 will feature the review of related literature which will showcase the different supplemental data acquired from the different external sources. These supporting data will be used to provide additional expanse and depth to the analysis of the data collected at the end of this study.

         Chapter 3 features the methodology employed by the proponents in the conduct of this 

study. It includes the research design, as well as the description of the research participants 

as well as the sampling method.  The primary data source (locality of the study) is also 

included in this chapter as well as the procedure of data collection.  Finally, the 

trustworthiness of the study, including its four components are explained along with the 

ethical considerations undertaken by the proponents.

CHAPTER 2

REVIEW OF THE RELATED LITERATURE

This chapter consists of the review of related literature and studies, its presentation in the form of paradigm and the research assumption.

Definition of Collaborative Learning

Collaborative learning is an instructive way to deal with educating and discovering that includes gatherings of understudies cooperating to tackle an issue, total an undertaking, or make an item. As indicated by Gerlach, "Collaborative learning depends on the possibility that learning is a normally social act in which the members talk among themselves (Gerlach, 1994). It is through the discussion that learning happens." 

There are numerous ways to deal with collaborative learning. A lot of assumptions about the learning procedure (Smith and MacGregor, 1992) underlies them all. Learning is a functioning procedure whereby understudies acclimatize the data and relate this new information to a system of earlier information. Learning requires a test that opens the entryway for the student to effectively draw in his/her friends, and to process and incorporate data instead of basically remember and regurgitate it. Students advantage when presented to different perspectives from individuals with shifted foundations. Learning prospers in a social situation where discussion between students happens. Amid this scholarly tumbling, the student makes a system and importance to the talk. 

In the collaborative learning condition, the students are tested both socially and emotionally as they tune in to alternate points of view and are required to explain and protect their thoughts. In this manner, the students start to make their own remarkable theoretical systems and not depend exclusively on a specialist's or a content's structure. Along these lines, in a community oriented getting the hang of setting, students have the chance to chat with friends, present and shield thoughts, trade assorted convictions, question other calculated systems, and be effectively locked in.

Design of Collaborative Learning

The design of the collaborative task is crucial. According to Watkins there are three essential elements in designing a collaborative task. Firstly, it should not be possible to complete the task by one individual. Secondly, the task must require the effort of all participants to achieve completion. The students should be dependent on each other for the completion of the task. Thirdly, it should not be a ‘right answer’ task. There should be more than one answer, so that the students could consider the possible answers and decide which is better, and the reason for one being better than the others. 

As the students may have been engaging in isolated and competitive learning, the teacher should explain to them the skills and expectations necessary for collaborative learning, in order to prepare them for the task. They could initially be asked to work in pairs so they develop their skills of communication. Then they could be placed in groups of three or four. 

Students should be advised that preparation for the discussion, by engaging in the recommended reading is important for a successful outcome of the discussion. When some students are not prepared for the group discussions, this causes frustration among the students who are prepared.

In designing collaborative learning there should be ‘group goals’ and ‘individual accountability’ to achieve the common goals. The collaborative learning task should ensure that each member of the group has learnt something. The teacher could divide the key concepts to be learnt and assign to each student a concept, giving them the responsibility of learning the concept and explaining to their fellow-students. In explaining to other students, they act as teacher, which experience is beneficial to them, as well as other students. 

Group size is important in the design of the collaborative project. If the group is too large, while active members contribute frequently to the group, the less active members do not contribute frequently. The group size should be large enough to have different perspectives, but small enough so that each member feels confident to participate in the group discussion. In a study reported by Jianxia Du et al student perception was that the quality of the online discussion was important for the success of the group project and knowledge construction. The quality depends on whether the participants have done the necessary research, so that the discussion is evidence-based.

In using groups in a collaborative environment, it is necessary to create the groups, structure the learning activities and facilitate group interactions. Instructors need guidance to set up and deliver instruction for their students in collaborative learning projects.

Challenges of Collaborative Learning

Designing and maintaining a collaborative learning experience is a challenge for teachers who have been adopting traditional methods of teaching. Challenges of collaborative learning faced by teachers are explained by two problems affecting the effectiveness of this type of learning method: organization of collaborative activities and assessment of learning. 

First, teachers often encounter challenges while creating collaborative activities, such as monitoring students on their performance, managing group-work time, providing useful and relevant materials, assigning individual roles, and establishing teamwork beliefs and behaviors. A study by a group of researchers, which analyzed preparation of collaborative activities of teachers, displayed insufficient attention of teachers in organizing collaborative work. Furthermore, the study explained that an immense number of primary and secondary school teachers usually group students and let them work together without preparing them to perform collaborative activities productively. 

Second, teachers often find it difficult to assess students’ performance and achievements as they implement collaborative learning in classrooms at all levels of education. The lack of assessment tools to measure collaborative performance of every member may cause students disappointment about the transparency and evenness of the assessment.

Although encouraged in schools’ improvement plans, teacher collaboration is not usually monitored or investigated (Goddard & Goddard, 2007). Some collaborative practices are unstructured and inconsistent. 

This leads to perceptions from teachers that collaboration is unvalued or not obligated (Sawyer and Rimm-Kaufman, 2007). Professional development is usually only offered as a quick-fixed approach to the goals of the school improvement plan, causing a decline in the sustainability of teacher collaborative opportunities.

Collaborative groups are composed of diverse personalities and unique belief systems, and this makeup of individuals can create unproductive collaboration experiences (Williams, 2010). Hargreaves and Dawe (1989) mentioned three adverse components of a collaborative culture:Fragmented individualism is a form of teacher isolation, Balkanization consists of groups operating as separate entities, and Contrived collegiality is the dissemination of preoccupied and unwanted participants of the group.

Effective collaboration takes time to develop and implement (Williams, 2010). Teachers consumed with the daily tasks, limited resources, and pressure to demonstrate instructional competency may not find the time to collaborate with others. To save time, collaborative practices have been reduced to sharing information on computers and paper copies.

There may be technological difficulties for students engaged in online collaboration. The technological skill needed for online collaboration may be a challenge for students and teachers. Technical difficulties hamper collaborative learning and create a high level of frustration among learners. Some students prefer to learn by themselves rather than learn in a collaborative setting. It is important to recognize that students have different learning styles, rather than adopting a ‘one-size fits all’ approach. 

Benefits of Collaborative Learning

There are a number of benefits that are associated with the concept of collaborative learning. It is through understanding the benefits, that we can truly use this learning style to our benefit. Before one can make a judgment on the merits of Collaborative Learning, it is important to understand exactly what Collaborative Learning is (Annett, N., 1997).

As students are exchanging and negotiating ideas, their interest in learning is increased and they are more likely to become critical thinkers. In collaborative learning, students learn more of what is taught, retain information longer, and are more interested in class. Collaborative learning develops oral communication skills in face to face learning, written communication skills in online learning, leadership skills, self-management skills, assists in student retention, and is a preparation for real-life social and employment situations. Moreover, it enables students to develop teamwork skills, which is an employability skill. The collaborative learning process enables passive learners under traditional methods to become active learners.

Collaboration is a philosophy of interaction and personal lifestyle where individuals are responsible for their actions, including learning and respect the abilities and contributions of their peers. There is a sharing of authority and acceptance of responsibility among group members for the group’s actions. The underlying premise of collaborative learning is based upon consensus building through cooperation by group members, in contrast to competition in which individuals best other group members. CL practitioners apply this philosophy in the classroom, at committee meetings, with community groups, within their families and generally as a way of living with and dealing with other people (Panitz, T., 1996).

Brown and Lara (2011) cite Johnsons (2009) that say; there are three ways when individuals take action in relation to the actions of the others. One's actions may promote the success of others, obstruct the success of others, or not have any effect at all on the success or failure of others. In other words, individuals may be working together cooperatively to accomplish shared learning goals;Working against each other (competitively) to achieve a goal that only one or a few can attain;Working by oneself (individualistically) to accomplish goals unrelated to the goals of others.

They state that Johnsons’ survey of educational research demonstrates cooperation, in comparison with competitive and individualistic efforts, results in: Higher achievement and greater productivity;More caring, supportive, and committed relationships, and;Greater psychological health, social competence and self-esteem. This paper aimed at presenting the main benefits followed Collaborative Learning.

Collaborative Learning – It is Not Just for Students

According to Earp, Jo – a Teacher (Evidence + Insight + Action) writer, Collaborative learning can be an effective classroom tool, but it can also have a powerful impact in the staffroom. A review of several related literatures suggests that teacher collaboration may, in fact, enhance learning for both teachers and students (Williams, 2010). When teachers have opportunities to collaborate professionally, they build upon their distinctive experiences, pedagogies, and content (Goddard & Goddard, 2007). Pounder (1998) concluded that teachers who work on teams report a greater skill variety and knowledge of student performance, which, in turn, improves student outcomes. A study conducted by Goddard and Goddard (2007) found that 47 schools in a large urban school district were positively influenced by teacher collaboration. This study provided evidence of a direct link between teacher collaboration for school improvement and student achievement. Another study by Goddard, Goddard, and Miller (2010) found a direct effect of instructional leadership in teacher collaboration on teacher and student learning.

Collaboration amongst teachers can be formal or informal. For instance, inclusion requires general education teachers to work collaboratively with special education teachers to provide specified learning accommodations for students with disabilities. Some departmentalized teachers work on teams to integrate the curriculum for students. Many schools have also developed support teams for teachers to identify and address students’ learning needs. Teacher collaboration can even be demonstrated when teachers are discussing lesson strategies or student’s needs during planning time. Many opportunities are available for teacher collaboration; yet, it is one of the least researched areas within the education field. Goddard & Goddard (2007) claimed that their study on teacher collaboration and student achievement was the first study to empirically link the two variables. 

Teachers at Craigslea State High School in Brisbane are using Peer Learning Groups (PLGs) to improve their own practice and student outcomes. Principal Mark Farwell explains this collegial approach sees staff working in small teams on particular aspects of their practice using an action research framework. ‘We started trialing the process in 2013,’ he tells Teacher. ‘It initially came about from our own internal research around professional development of teachers and the [traditional models] of workshops and seminars … that don’t really get any traction. It really does now form the core of our approach to professional development.’ Farwell says it’s not about adding new initiatives but reorienting the approach to PD in relation to the school’s pedagogical framework. ‘So, for example, if we have got a school focus on cooperative learning for example or higher order thinking – the peer learning groups are about digging deeper into the existing school priorities.’

The early trials during 2013 were facilitated by two members of staff. The following year the school was allocated a Master Teacher (Dr Patsy Norton) under a Queensland education department initiative. Farwell says the work of Master Teachers varies from school to school. Craigslea decided to make facilitation of PLGs a key part of that role.

Matt Moorcroft –Year 8 Coordinator at the school teaching Year 7 to 9 maths and Year 7 science and technology – says the collaborative model helped staff develop strong ties with each other. ‘I led a PLG with myself and three others in the maths department. We were a group of junior secondary maths teachers (Year 7 to 9) and we saw a need for the development of some fundamental maths skills in our classes. ‘The thing that I think appealed to us most about the peer learning group process was that we could decide what we wanted to develop and Patsy then provided the structure and the action research approach to give that a bit more integrity.’ Moorcroft adds Norton made it clear for all teachers: ‘What are we investigating and how are we going to collect data and measure our progress?’ His PLG developed a series of five minute maths warm ups and recall tasks to be used at the start of the lesson. He says the five minute element was in response to teachers feeling time poor. ‘Since then we’ve continued to use those but we’ve shifted our focus this year now to problem solving maths. We’re using a very similar process to try and develop that approach.

‘From that process though, we’ve improved our ability and willingness to share resources in the maths department. The main thing is the collegiality being developed.

There were probably two novice teachers and two experienced teachers in our group and it’s created some really great ties between us and those have continued to flourish since [we formed] our peer learning group.’ The process includes classroom implementation, peer observation and feedback and discussion. Although the overall PD goal has remained the same, there have been several ‘changes of tack’ in the last four years. These include introducing a reflective statement by each teacher, the deliberate adoption of an action research approach, and increasing teacher agency by giving them freedom of choice in terms of strategy and group composition to align with their own needs and interests while still maintaining a primary focus on the school’s strategic priorities.

Collaborative Learning Enhances Critical Thinking

According to Anuradha A. Gokhale, the idea of collaborative learning, the gathering and blending of students to achieve a scholarly objective, has been broadly investigated and pushed all through the expert writing. The term "Collaborative learning" alludes to a guidance technique in which students at different execution levels cooperate in little gatherings toward a typical objective. The students are in charge of each other's learning just as their claim. Consequently, the achievement of one student causes different understudies to be fruitful. Advocates of community learning guarantee that the dynamic trade of thoughts inside little gatherings not just builds enthusiasm among the members yet in addition advances basic reasoning. As indicated by Johnson and Johnson (1986), there is convincing proof that agreeable groups accomplish at larger amounts of thought and hold data longer than understudies who work discreetly as people. The mutual learning offer students a chance to take part in discourse, assume liability for their own learning, and along these lines wind up basic scholars (Totten, Ledges, Digby, and Russ, 1991). Disregarding these points of interest, the vast majority of the examination ponders on cooperative learning have been done at the essential and auxiliary dimensions. So far, there is minimal exact proof on its viability at the school level. In any case, the requirement for noncompetitive, community oriented gathering work is stressed in quite a bit of the advanced education writing. Likewise, dominant part of the exploration in collective learning has been done in non-specialized orders. The advances in innovation and changes in the authoritative foundation put an expanded attention on cooperation inside the workforce. Workers should most likely think imaginatively, tackle issues, and decide.

Impact of Collaborative Learning in Academic Achievement 

Collaborative learning is such a method for guidance where little gatherings of students work mutually to upgrade their very own insight and share learning with different friends. Students in a perfect collective getting the hang of setting are expected to do participation among them as they urge each other to do home assignments, cooperate together regardless of their gender, scholarly capacity, cast and whether they are ordinary or impaired. Johnson and Johnson's ponder expressed that understudies in a community picking up setting ought to praise every others' learning. There was a discussion in against of gathering learning. The finding was that an individual works alone and accepting of an individual is minimal better, than gathering working. Be that as it may, this finding of research thinks about does not strengthen this conviction. In any case, Johnson and Johnson's examination demonstrates that collective working is better. In their investigation of gathering working, it set up for the 140 students who took an interest in their examination. Collaborative learning was effective since students’ accomplishments expanded as a gathering and in some individual accomplishments. Their proposal was that gather tests for assemble grades from the bases of community-oriented learning procedures actualized in higher instruction classrooms be additionally investigated. Muniz and Walmsley two essential parts of actualizing collaborative learning is to give collective prizes and to strengthen singular responsibility. Zakaria and Iksantrusted that collaborative learning is the bases in the conviction that learning isbest when understudies are effectively engaged with sharing thoughts and working cooperatively to finish scholastic assignments. Jenkins and O'Connor contemplated that learning-disabled students and standard students can add to collaborative learning in reading and make develop in reading. Capacity gathering, has a long standard practice in readinginstructions, it likewise has been scrutinized for bringing down confidence and inspiration among students with reading issues, and it regularly spread the holeamong high and low achievers. In any case, Jenkins, Laurence, Wayne, and Vadasypresumed that there are three most advantages self-esteem, security that originates from being blending among companions and higher achievement rates or potentially better accomplishments. Additionally, peer mentoring has more than once been engaged that it is a powerful strategy for instructing reading to understudies with and without disable. Mathes and Fuchs' metanalysis discovered that students with inabilities made more prominent gains in reading when they served as guides, another investigation by the researchers found no difference between whether students with 

inabilities served in as tutor or tutee. As indicated by Jenkins and O'Connor, collaborative learning in the classroom is one of the best systems for showing students with and without disable in the classroom. The fruitful of educating through cooperative 

learning is the resultant above all else ponders. The strategy for collaborative learning is related with expanded mental action in social and passionate memory associations and long-haul remembrance. In collaborative learning, low accomplishing students made commitments among a gathering of friends and make progress what not taking an interest student expanded their comprehension of abilities and thoughts by clarifying them to peers. Collaborative learning exercises might be time consuming alongside the huge measure of weight from state sanctioned test scores and the staggering educational programs, a few veteran instructors are pulling far from collective learning exercises.Thompson and Taymans expounded that in arrange for collaborative learningto be successful, instructors should make certain that they do the following: Have clear framework for overseeing understudy conduct, show understudies explicit relational aptitudes and show students how to play out the particular standards and strategies expected inside various collaborative structures.

Related Studies

This study includes the with many research papers conducted by other proponents that shares many similarities with their research. This study will also serve as the foundation of this study in terms of its results and discussion and the main points of the study. The researches are: Exploring the Impact of Teacher Collaboration on Teacher Learning and Development by Tami Burton (2015), Collaborative learning: Theoretical Foundations and Applicable Strategies to University by Nestor Roselli (2015), Benefits of Collaborative Learning by Marjan Laal and Seyed Mohammad Ghodsi (2011), Three Disadvantages of Collaborative Learning by Christine Bartsch, Impact of Collaborative Learning on Academic Achievement in Mathematics of Secondary Students in the School Hostel in Rural Area in India by Monoranjan Bhowmik (2015), Collaborative Learning Enhances Critical Thinking by Anuradha A. Gokhale (1995), and A Theoretical and Empirical Investigation of Teacher Collaboration for School Improvement and Student Achievement in Public Elementary Schools by Goddard, Y. L., & Goddard, R. D. (2007)

In a similar study, teachers reported a sense of shared responsibility for students learning during teacher collaboration (Williams, 2010). When teachers work collaboratively with each other, they share experiences and innovative strategies; during collaborative discussions, teachers are given a voice in curricular implementation and variety of skills to support student learning needs. Teacher collaboration is a systematic process that allows teachers to analyze and improve instructional practices and student learning outcomes (Williams, 2010). Melnick and Witner (1999) concluded from their study that teachers believed strongly in teacher collaboration and they often made time to collaborate after school hours. Professional learning opportunities for teachers encourage active involvement in the learning community. Increased professional learning is due to the understanding that when teachers work together, they express various perspectives, experiences, and reflect on their teaching practices in an effort to increase professional growth (Williams, 2010). Teachers’ perceptions of collaboration are important. The way teachers perceive collaboration can determine its efficiency. The culture of the school usually influences teachers’ collaborative attitudes and behaviors (Sawyer and Rimm-Kaufman, 2007). The school leaders play a key role in modeling the attitudes and behaviors that promote collaboration.

School leaders are responsible for initiating and implementing the school’s improvement plan. Research implies that school leaders affect teachers’ practices (Goddard, Goddard, and Miller, 2010). School leaders are essential in collaboration settings. Related research suggests that school leaders have an indirect impact on student learning outcomes through initiated professional development opportunities for teachers (Goddard et al 2010 & Williams, 2010). Many school leaders are encouraged to provide professional development for teachers in response to improving the organization (Williams, 2010). Some research has empirically linked school leaders to effective teacher collaborative practices. A study conducted by Goddard, Goddard, and Miller (2010) found a significant direct effect of instructional leadership and collaborative practices. Their study suggested that when school leaders provided instructional leadership within their schools, higher rates of teacher collaboration occurs. A study by Sawyer and Rimm-Kaufman (2007) suggested that administrators are essential inestablishing a collaborative culture within the school. Administrators, in turn, model how to prioritize collaboration and actively engage in this behavior. Goddard, Goddard, and Miller (2010) studied how influential school leaders are in collaborative practices. Their study concluded that there was a significant direct effect of school leadership on teacher collaboration. School leaders are influential in engaging teachers’ professional knowledge. Thus, school leaders should work cooperatively with teachers to encourage teacher learning and professional development.

During effective collaborative practices, teachers are individually responsible for the goals of the group. Positive Social Interdependence theory (Johnson and Johnson, 2009) suggests that responsibility forces an increase in group member’s motivation. The act of the members pulling their own weight to improve the contribution to the entire group is essential. Individual accountability should be assessed and compared to the standard of performance for the group (Johnson and Johnson, 2009). Effective collaboration produces an increase in shared and common goals. Williams (2010) argued that teachers develop internal accountability first and this is later developed into external measures of accountability, such as production of work, reflective practices, and goal accomplishment.

Some researchers perceive teacher efficacy as a benefit of teacher collaboration. Collaboration allows teachers to use a collection of ideas, strategies and experiences in their individual classrooms. Williams (2010) stated that collaboration builds self-efficacy by allowing teachers to exert competency of their professional lives. Self-efficacy is defined as belief in one’s capabilities to implement a course of action and manage situations (Bandura, 1995). Effective teacher collaboration allows teachers to reflect on their instructional practices and become more confident in their professional abilities (Williams, 2010).

Collaborative or cooperative learning can be characterized as learning errands or exercises where understudies cooperate in a gathering little enough for everybody to take an interest on an aggregate undertaking that has been plainly doled out. This can be either a joint undertaking where amass individuals do distinctive parts of the assignment however add to a typical by and large result, or a mutual errand where gather individuals cooperate all through the movement. 

Some collaborative learning approaches additionally get blended capacity groups or gatherings to work in rivalry with one another, to drive progressively successful joint effort. There is a wide scope of ways to deal with community oriented and agreeable getting the hang of including various types of association and assignments, yet this outline does exclude Peer mentoring, which is checked on independently. 

There remains a genuinely constrained measure of distributed investigations on collaborative learning in Australian and New Zealand contexts. The investigations explored, most of which utilized subjective or blended techniques approaches, overall contend that it is a compelling method for connecting with understudies in learning. A meta-analysis on the subject is yet to be distributed. Collaborative learning is a wide term and can be understood in different ways. For instance, one examination concentrated on collaborative argumentation (Brown, 2009); another investigation took a gander at a collaborative development procedure (Shoval and Shulruf, 2012); yet, another investigation analyzed collaborative teaching and gathering students dependent on their learning levels (Martin and Williams, 2012). 

An examination looking at talk types utilized by seven secondary teachers amid agreeable learning found that educators utilized an assortment of interceded learning practices (Gillies and Boyle, 2008). These included cognitive and metacognitive questioning, platform and testing points of view, which were thusly utilized by students. Concentrate members likewise featured the significance of gathering structure, and viable gathering creation strategies included haphazardly appointing understudies to gatherings, restricting gathering size to four individuals, and blending capacity levels so understudies can bolster each other (Gillies and Boyle, 2008). 

An examination inspecting the encounters of 24 students (Years 4, 6, 6/7, and 11) who had partaken in collective argumentation in an Australian science classroom observed it to be advantageous for students (Brown, 2009). For this situation, collaborative argumentation contained individual and gathering critical thinking preceding sharing ends and avocations. Its empowered understudies to: successfully utilize the accessible scientific aptitudes and comprehension in a learning circumstance; adaptably and straightforwardly use science in individual and collaborative circumstances; value the advantages of shared arithmetic adapting; plainly communicate numerically; find better approaches for taking care of common issues; and investigate new ideas of knowing and doing math (Brown, 2009). While a few students felt that collaborative argumentation was an exercise in futility, the investigation recommends it might be progressively valuable in a few subjects over others. 

A study by Gillies and Boyle (2010) saw educators consolidate agreeable learning into their classrooms for 4-6 weeks for two terms. Post interviews were directed with instructors to distinguish facilitators and boundaries. Educators noticed a positive change in student connection and a general sentiment of enhanced outcomes. These included remarks about youngsters becoming acquainted with one another better, tolerating bunch jobs, figuring out how to cooperate with one another, being happy to go for broke with their learning, and dealing with their time more adequately. Hindrances to progress included students investing energy to mingle, unstructured undertakings, and poor time the executives. Viable helpful taking in originated from clarifying and expressly laying out undertakings, relegating explicit jobs to every understudy, and clarifying a successful gathering dynamic. 

A New Zealand-based research by Shoval and Shulruf (2011) analyzed the instructing of geometry through a community development movement (n=158 understudies, from five second and third grade classes). Information were accumulated through perception and pre-and post-movement composed tests. Student identity types were evaluated to check whether certain identity types profited more from the strategy. Students were relegated changing jobs inside the gathering. A positive connection was found for 'active' students while a negative relationship was found for 'passive' students. No affiliations were found for 'social' understudies. The outcomes show that community development exercises might be powerful in enhancing understudy accomplishment, however likely for increasingly out-going students who like to lead the pack (regardless of whether they are bring down achievers). 

In a trial model of collective instructing and learning at a New Zealand moderate school, 156 students worked in capacity bunches with various instructors relying upon the school subject. An investigation utilizing perception, polls and meetings was directed to investigate the view of staff, guardians and students of the model (Martin and Williams, 2012). It was discovered that students turned out to be progressively confident, more independent and increasingly involve with their learning. They felt positive about the community-oriented structure or collaborative learning, as it enabled them to work with students at a similar pace.

         According to Christine Barstch, as an instructing system that cultivates shared understudy investment, collaborative learning advances the possibility of happy students cooperating in harmony to find information. Basically, agreeable learning includes gatherings of at least three students working cooperatively to finish a project or task. In classrooms, educators may utilize this procedure for occasional projects consistently or join helpful learning into their everyday classroom schedules. Proponents of the strategy point to advantages, for example, oral ability advancement, enhanced understudy correspondence and understudy obligation regarding learning. Be that as it may, agreeable learning can experience several disadvantages:

1. Group Dynamic Dilemmas

One of the greatest challenges of collaborative learning is its dependence on a positive gathering dynamic to work at its highest proficiency. Strife between people can lessen or slow down a gathering's capacity to cooperate, which raises a huge issue when aggregate individuals are too youthful to even think about having full grown compromise aptitudes. Understudy connections are frequently full of play area show that youthful understudies can't leave outside of the classroom. Confused identities can cause unsuitable agreeable adapting notwithstanding when no contention or show is available as understudies with predominant identities may move into positions of authority regardless of whether they are most appropriate to control the current venture.

2. Uneven Workloads and Evaluations 

Collaborative learning can also result in an uneven appropriation of the remaining task at hand. Taking care of business, helpful learning urges students to help and rouse each other, with all included encountering an evenhanded development in information. Lamentably, in a few occasions, more advanced students essentially assume control over most of the task for straightforwardness and speed as opposed to helping battling students learn. On the other hand, sluggish students may purposely depend on increasingly constant gathering individuals to finish the work and abstain from applying any exertion themselves. In the two cases, the outcome isn't just an uneven remaining task at hand yet in addition uneven discovering that can prompt a few students falling behind. Similar remains constant for student assessments, as usually difficult to assess amass individuals exclusively. This can result in all gathering individuals getting a similar review or credit paying little heed to the amount they contributed.

3. Classroom Management Challenges

While many helpful learning's disadvantage influence the students, the technique can likewise give challenges to teachers. For students to cooperate, they should converse with each other. Any educator who has dealt with a classroom of 20 to 30 students realizes that kids with authorization to talk with each other constantly talk progressively more intense, which can turn into a diversion from the learning procedure. It is likewise inconceivable for one educator to continually screen each gathering, which can result in off-subject gab. Understudies working in gatherings may likewise leave their seats to survey materials together. Without strict control, agreeable learning can diminish a sorted-out classroom to absolute confusion.

Collaboration is a promising mode of human engagement that has become a twenty-first-century trend. The needfor think together and work together on critical issues has increased (Austin, J. E., 2000; Welch, M., 1998), causingto stress on from individual attempts to team work and from autonomy to community (Leonard, P. E. & Leonard, L.J., 2001).The concept of Collaborative Learning, the grouping and pairing of learners for the purpose of achieving a learning goal, has been widely researched and advocated; the term Collaborative Learning refers to an instruction method in which learners at variousperformance levels work together in small groups toward a common goal. The learners are responsible for oneanother's learning as well as their own. Thus, the success of one learner helps other students to be successful (Gokhale, A.A., 1995). Woods and Chen (2010) cite Johnsons (1994) that; in order for a Collaborative Learning effort to be more productive than competitive or individualistic methods, five conditions must be met, as:

•     Clearly perceived positive interdependence;

•     Considerable promotive interaction;

•     Clearly perceived individual accountability and personal responsibility to achieve the group’s goals;

•     Frequent use of the relevant interpersonal and small-group skills, and; Frequent and regular group processing of current functioning to improve the group’s future effectiveness.

Numerous benefits have been described for Collaborative Learning (Pantiz, T., 1999). A good way for organizing the benefits of Collaborative Learning, are to put them in categories. Johnsons (1989) and Pantiz (1999) list over 50 benefits for Collaborative Learning. The list below is based on their works. This paper summarizes them into four major categories of; social, psychological, academic andassessment, the author stated these following benefits:Social benefits;Collaborative Learning helps to develop a social support system for learners;Collaborative Learning leads to build diversity understanding among students and staff;Collaborative Learning establishes a positive atmosphere for modeling and practicing cooperation, and;Collaborative Learning develops learning communities.Psychological benefits;Student-centered instruction increases students' self-esteem;Cooperation reduces anxiety, and;Collaborative Learning develops positive attitudes towards teachers.Academic benefits;Collaborative Learning Promotes critical thinking skills; Involves students actively in the learning process; Classroom results are improved; Models appropriate student problem solving techniques; Large lectures can be personalized; Collaborative Learning is especially helpful in motivating students in specific curriculum; Alternate student and teacher assessment techniques;Collaborative teaching techniques utilize a variety of assessments.

In our society and current educational framework, competition is valued over cooperation. By asking group members to identify what behaviours help them work together and by asking individuals to reflect on their contribution to the group's success or failure, students are made aware of the need for healthy, positive, helping interactions (Panitz; T., 1996; Cohen B.P. & Cohen, E.G., 1991).  

 According to Johnson, Johnson, and Holubec (1984); a major component of learning includes training students in the social skills needed to work cooperatively. Collaborative Learning develops social interaction skills (Cohen, B.P., Cohen, E.G., 1991).  A significant benefit of Collaborative Learning is regarding to the groups operating together long enough during a course. The people in teams will get to know each other and extend their activities outside of class. Students will contact each other to get help with questions or problems they are having, and they will often continue their communications in later terms (Bean, J., 1996). Collaborative Learning helps to develop learning communities within classes and institutions (Tinto, V., 1997). As students are actively involved in interacting with each other on a regular basis in an instructed mode, they are able to understand their differences and learn how to resolve social problems which may arise (Johnson, R.T. & Johnson, D.W., 1985). It creates a stronger social support system (Cohen, S., & Willis, T., 1985). A natural tendency to socialize with the students on a professional level is created by Collaborative Learning. Students often have difficulties outside of class. Openings them can lead to a discussion of these problems by the teacher and student in a nonthreatening way and additional support from other student services units in such areas can be a beneficial by-product (Kessler, R.C. & McCleod, J.D., 1985). Collaborative Learning builds more positive heterogeneous relationships (Webb, N.M., 1980) and encourages diversity understanding (Swing, S.R. & Peterson, P.L., 1982). Johnsons (1990) claim; Collaborative Learning promotes positive societal responses to problems and fosters a supportive environment within which to manage conflict resolution. Research shows that Collaborative Learning reduces violence in any setting. Sherman (1991) notes; Most social psychology text books contain considerable discussions about conflict, sometimes instigated by individual or inter-group competition, and its resolution and/or reduction through the use of cooperative techniques. Collaborative Learning promotes positive societal responses to problems and fosters a supportive environment within which to manage conflict resolution (Johnson, R.T., Johnson, D, W, 1990; Messick, D.M., & Mackie, D.M., 1989). In a Collaborative Learning setting, students develop responsibility for each other (Bonoma, J., Tedeschi, J., Helm, B., 1974). Collaborative Learning helps students to resolve differences in a friendly manner. They need to be taught how to challenge ideas and advocate for their positions without personalizing their statements (Johnson, D.W., Johnson, R.T., Holubec, E.J., 1984). Higher level thinking skills are developed by Collaborative Learning (Webb, N.M., 1982). Students are committed in the learning process. Students working together represent the most effective form of interaction. When students work in pairs one person is listening while the other partner is discussing the question under investigation. Both are developing valuable problem solving skills by formulating their ideas, discussing them, receiving immediate feedback and responding to questions and comments (Johnson, D.W., 1971; Peterson, P.L. & Swing, S.R., 1985). In order to develop critical thinking skills, students need a base of information to work from. Acquiring this base often requires some degree of repetition and memory work. When this is accomplished individually the process can be tedious, boring or overwhelming. When students work together the learning process becomes interesting and fun despite the repetitive nature of the learning process (Panitz, T., 1999).  Marjan Laal and Seyed Mohammad Ghodsi / Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences 31 (2012) 486 – 490 Marjan Laal 489 / Procedia – Social and Behavioral Sciences 00 (2011) 000–000 Collaborative Learning develops students' oral communication skills (Yager, S., Johnson, D.W. & Johnson, R.T., 1985). Students who tutor each other must develop a clear idea of the concept they are presenting and orally communicate it to their partners (Neer, M.R., 1987). Collaborative Learning involves students actively in the process of learning (Slavin, R.E., 1980). During the cooperative process, students can become involved in developing curriculum and class procedures (Kort, M.S., 1992). Students are often asked to assess themselves, their groups, and class procedures (Meier, M. &Panitz, T., 1996). The high level of interaction and interdependence among group members leads to deep rather than surface learning (Entwistle, N. & Tait, H., 1993). Collaborative Learning is student centered, leading to an emphasis on learning as well as teaching and to more student ownership of responsibility for that learning (Lowman, J., 1987). In a Collaborative Learning setting, students are actively involved in the learning process and more likely to become interested in learning and participating school; therefore student maintenance is increased (Astin, A.W., 1977). Collaborative Learning leads to self-management by students (Resnick, L.B., 1987). Students are trained to be ready to complete the tasks and work together within their groups and they must understand the subject that they plan to contribute to their group. They are also given time to process group behaviors such as checking with each other to make sure homework assignments are not only completed but understood. These interactions help students learn self management techniques. Collaborative Learning provides the teacher with many opportunities to observe students interacting, explaining their reasoning, asking questions and discussing their ideas and concepts (Cooper, et al., 1984). These are far more inclusive assessment methods than relying on written exams only (Cross, K.P. & Angelo, T.A., 1993). Johnsons (1990) state: In a learning situation, student goal achievements are positively correlated; students perceive that they can reach learning goals if and only if the other students in the learning group also reach their goals. Thus, students seek outcomes that are beneficial to all those with whom they are cooperatively linked. When individuals get stuck they are more likely to give up, but groups are much more likely to find ways to keep going. Collaborative Learning provides many opportunities for alternate forms of student assessment (Panitz, T. &Panitz,P., 1996). Collaborative Learning reduces classroom anxiety created by new and unfamiliar situations faced by students (Kessler, R., Price, R. & Wortman, C., 1985). The students see that the teacher is able to evaluate how they think as well as what they know. Through the interactions with students during each class, the teacher gains a better understanding of each student's learning style and how he/she performs and an opportunity is created whereby the teacher may provide extra guidance and counseling for the students.

The Collaborative Learning Theory is the most representative expression of educational socioconstructivism. Actually, it is not a unitary theory, but a set of theoretical lines that highlight the value of socio-cognitive constructive interaction and coordination among trainees. Three of these currents deserve special reference as being the basic sources of the Collaborative Learning Theory: the neo-Piagetian socioconstructivism or sociocognitive conflict theory, the neo-Vygotskian approach of intersubjectivity and the model of distributed cognition or network thinking. These three currents can be placed in an “individual-group” axis, as the emphasis is placed on the individual or collective interaction as such. The order in which they have been named defines the respective location on the axis.

The Sociocognitive collaboration requires learning: that means, it can and should be taught. The teacher is responsible for students to learn to work effectively among them, transforming the classroom into a teaching- learning community. In this sense, the teacher has a variety of strategies that can be implemented at different levels, depending on different types of task (Roselli, 2011). The most important here is to understand that it is not only about random pedagogical training resources for collaboration and less than mere group animation techniques; it is a proposal for a new educational model that leverages academically, effectively, the natural sociability of the institutional context of teaching, basically collective. This educational model includes working in groups, but not only that. Collaborative educational scheme goes beyond the mere collectivism (complete all in group); it includes and maintains individual levels and connects the own learning with others.

The model offered in this work is not the only possible one; it is only a reference from which each teacher builds on his work (depending on the episteme, individual character, the characteristics of their students and the institutional framework).

The most rewarding and motivating thing is that the teacher raises it as a participatory action- research pedagogical innovation, involving faculty and students (Roselli, 2008). In this context, it may even implement non-collaborative (comparative) control conditions. It can also implement comparative levels between non- patterned and patterned group work forms by the teacher in advance, as a way to ensure an effective organizational scheme, whose absence commonly makes collective coordination difficult.

Another relevant problem is the resistances to change, especially the hidden ones. These can come from teachers themselves or declaratively involved in collaborative learning experience, as well as students. Collaborative schemes inspire both by the innovative mark posed and because the rescue of sociability creates a better working environment, but imply new and very rigorous demands of work and performance (preparation of materials, fulfillment of the tasks entrusted, timeliness, single adequacy to collective operation), not everyone gets to understand the facts. Institutional regulations do not often help a lot. The background of these resistances is undoubtedly individualistic culture that, beyond declarations, permeates educational institutional settings. In this sense, the implementation of collaborative strategies should be progressive, consensual and accompanied by a permanent critical reflection of the achievements.

All of the related research mentioned are a big help to the proponents themselves, since all of these researches can connect with their chosen topic, also they can see that all of the information cite are necessary to give justification and to vindicate that these problems exists. 

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY

This study's third chapter features various parts to explain the methodology. These are the research design, research participants/informants, data sources, data collection procedure, the trustworthiness of the study, and, lastly, the ethical considerations.

The reason for the methodology is to find answer as to what are the hardships of teachers towards students’ collaborative learning. Exploring students’ collaborative learning from teachers’ struggles reveals a deeper understanding of the ideology surrounding collaboration.We will employ different types of methods in order to find the answers to the research question. A thorough analysis of the collected data exposed underlying themes related to these that were further explored.

Research Design

This study used a phenomenological design of research. Phenomenological research describes the meaning of the lived experiences of individuals about a concept or a phenomenon. Furthermore, the purpose of a phenomenological research is to reduce individual experiences with a phenomenon to a description of the universal essence. Lastly, it develops a specific description of the essence of the experience (Creswell, 2007). 

In this paper, the phenomenological design of research was a big help to be able to determine the different struggles of teachers in students’ collaborative learning. Furthermore, this design gave information as to how the teachers are affected by the collaboration of their students in doing their activities or tasks. Students’ collaborative activities may or may not be useful to other students which may result to hardships of teachers that can affect their ways of teaching.

Research Participants

This study will make use of the purposive sampling as its method of participant selection. According to Research Methodology, purposive sampling (also known as judgment, selective or subjective sampling) is a sampling technique in which researcher relies on his or her own judgment when choosing members of population to participate in the study.

For this study, the participants who will be subjected specifically five (5) participants in this research as the primary data source will be purposively selected by the following criteria. First, they must be bona fide Malayan Colleges Mindanao teachers who are in Senior High School department. 

Data Sources

This study has two data sources: the transcription of the interviews conducted by the proponents and the supporting literature from the related studies which will give justification and clarity to the narrated experiences whether the experiences are negative or positive encounters. The primary data source will come from the participants’ interview transcription which will be all written texts.  The data will come in the form of the participants’ narrations of their experiences and the situations which surrounded these experiences.  

The secondary data source originates from the related literature and studies which will provide justification to the narrations of the participants. By the provided set of literatures, this will allow the narrated experiences to be more compelling and vindicate.

These data will be collected from the participants coming from the teachers of Malayan Colleges Mindanao, senior high school department at Gen. Douglas MacArthur Highway, Matina Davao City 8000, which focuses and using collaborative learning. This locale was selected since they show a lot of potential to be the subjects in the said research.

Data Collection Procedure

To acquire the data needed for this study, the proponents will begin by constructing an interview guide.  This interview guide is composed of five questions which will help in answering the two research questions indicated in Chapter 1.  Upon making of the said interview guide, the proponents will then proceed to providing of permission letters to be handed out to the participants for their perusal and approval. Once the letters are signed, the proponents will then proceed to the interview sessions which will be carried out by three members of the research group.  

After the interview sessions, the data collected by the proponents will then transcribe the interviews and arrange the responses into the emergent themes found in the narrations.  

Trustworthiness of the Study

To sustain the truthfulness and reliability of this study, its dependability must be perceived. The area contains the discussion of the study’s reliability regarding its credibility, transferability, dependability and conformability.

Credibility.To guarantee that the information in this researchare not conceived of gossip, data triangulation is carried out by the proponents.  Data triangulation is the procedure by which the researchers utilize more than one type of information gathering. As referenced in the past section, there will be two sources of information in this research: the interpretation of the meeting relating to the encounters of the participants just as the expert’s assessment and related writing which will offer help to those encounters. The regular stipulations will at that point be utilized as the new subjects in this research.

Transferability.The appearance of transferability is two-fold: the transferability of the methods for information gathering just as the transferability of the outcomes. As far as the information gathering, the level of transferability is very high thinking about that a similar strategy for information gathering might be a contribution to different types of studies. The transferability of the outcomes is likewise high as this might be connected in a research opportunity that include the teachers.

Dependability. To observe dependability, the interview questions will be checked by an evaluator. This is to ensure that the outcomes that will be gathered even from reworked organization of the interview questions are reliable. The question will experience various phases of checking and altering to stay away from inclinations and unclearness.

Conformability. At long last, to check for conformability, the crude information that will be gathered by the proponents will be submitted to the participants for them to check the deciphered proclamations before they are distributed or published. The information is liable to withdrawal and changes whenever regarded essential by the participants.

Ethical Considerations

There are a number of ethical considerations considered in this study: the confidentiality of the participants, the acquisition of permission for the interview and the accuracy of the statements of the participants.  First, in maintaining the confidentiality of the participants, the assignment of codenames to the participants is done.  The codenames were selected at random and these are all names of teachers.  

Second, permission letters will also be given to the participants, informing them of their rights as participants in this study such as the right to unsay their statements and participation in the study, and the right to anonymity.  These letters will be signed by the participants, acknowledging that they have read and understood the prerequisite in the letter.

Finally, the interview transcription will also be resubmitted to the participants in order for them to check errors or inconsistencies in their statements.