Collaborative Interactions in Young Children

Abstract

This paper reports on a study which was conducted in eight classes across two year levels (Years 2 and 4) in four schools in suburban Brisbane. The study was designed to determine if there were differences between the collaborative interactions of the children who were trained to work together (Trained group) and those who were told to work together but were not trained (Untrained group).

The study found that the children in the Trained groups were consistently more collaborative and helpful to each other as they tried to involve each other in the learning task. They provided more assistance to each other, even when this help was not explicitly requested. Moreover, the children in the Trained groups used more inclusive language (e.g., frequent use of ‘we’ or ‘us’) than their peers in the Untrained groups and these behaviours were exhibited by the children in the Trained groups across the two year levels. In effect, the study showed that it is possible to train lower and middle primary school children to assist and support each other's learning.