Willingham: How to teach collaboration
My guest today is cognitive scientist Daniel Willingham, a psychology professor at the University of Virginia and author of “Why Don’t Students Like School?” By Daniel Willingham A small scientific step was just made that could help the 21st century skills movement be a bit more grounded. I have criticized the movement in the past for, among other things, advocating the emphasis of certain skills without any clear plan for how those skills ought to be taught. For example, “collaboration” and “working effectively in groups” are often deemed 21st century skills. Advocates point out that more and more projects in the workplace are team efforts, and businesses need individuals who know how to work well with others. But you can’t expect people to learn how to work in groups simply by putting them in groups. Plenty of people who have engaged in group work for decades still don’t know
